Scientists say a cutting-edge but untested new drug, first developed to beat Ebola, shows the best promise in the fight against COVID-19.

The drug, Remdesivir, is being tested against the virus in clinical trials in China and the US.

But results won’t be known for months, and the drug is not approved for use in Australia – which had led to local doctors trying an old HIV medicine on coronavirus patients in the hope it will work.

Novel coronavirus (yellow) emerges from the surface of cells in a culture grown from a patient in the United States. Credit:AP

As COVID-19 spreads, threatening to become a pandemic, scientists around the world are frantically hunting for an effective treatment for the virus. They are testing old and new drugs, as well as more exotic treatments like stem cells and Chinese herbs.