COVID-19: Asia Pacific Clinical Trial Landscape

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a contagious infection caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2 (Beta-Coronavirus). In December 2019, a novel coronavirus was discovered in China causing severe acute respiratory syndrome-like pneumonia which resulted in a pandemic. (1) Coronavirus is highly transmissible, with the virus potentially spreading from an infected person’s mouth or nose through aerosol resulting from coughing, sneezing, speaking, or breathing. Most common symptoms include fever, dry cough, tiredness, and loss of taste with or without the sense of smell. People of different age groups infected by the Coronavirus show mild to moderate respiratory symptoms within 5-6 days of infection and in some cases even 14 days and recover without hospitalization. However, the geriatric population and those with underlying medical conditions like diabetes, hypertension, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer, are more likely to acquire the serious illness with symptoms like difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath, chest pain, and loss of speech or mobility which requires immediate medical attention. (2)