Many labs are working on drugs to prevent or fight infection with coronavirus Oliver Bunic/Bloomberg Via Getty Images

AS THE number of coronavirus cases escalates, a massive research and development effort is under way, with human trials planned.

What the thousands of people who already have the covid-19 virus would benefit from is a drug that can stop it replicating. To find what may do this, people are ransacking lists of existing drugs that could be repurposed with minimal further testing.

Leading the pack is remdesivir, an experimental …