BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (UAB) — The University of Alabama at Birmingham announced Thursday that it will take part in a global clinical trial to evaluate a new treatment for patients diagnosed with COVID-19.

The drug, remdesivir, is the first agent that will be evaluated.

According to a press release sent out by the university Thursday, UAB was activated as a clinical trial site Wednesday by the National Institutes of Health. They can now immediately begin enrollment of the clinical trial.

UAB is one of 75 sites around the world that will take part in the study and clinical trials for the treatment being activated for the trial. Dr. Paul Goepfert, professor of medicine in UAB’s Division of Infectious Diseases, serves as the principal investigator at UAB for this study.

“Remdesivir worked well in the test tube and animal models against a close relative of COVID-19,” Goepfert said in the release. “We are very excited to have the opportunity to rapidly determine whether this drug will help treat hospitalized patients with COVID-19 here at UAB.”

Over the last couple of weeks, nearly 450 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Alabama. In addition, one person died from complications caused by the virus.

The clinicaltrials.gov identifier is NCT04280705.

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