A coronavirus trial boom

China is seeing a frenzy of new clinical trial activity related to the novel coronavirus — with more than 120 new studies either underway or ready soon for launch. That figure is almost double the number reported just last week, underscoring the severity of a disease that has killed more than 2,000 people around the world, most of them in China.

About half the trials will test undisclosed antivirals, and another 47 will see if certain Chinese remedies have any impact on the virus. HIV medications are the focus of more than a dozen trials.

“As of this moment, you’re looking at 40,000-plus patients being targeted,” one analyst told STAT’s Ed Silverman. “It’s an amazingly fast response and the sheer number of patients involved is pretty staggering.”