On Apr. 29, 2020, researchers at Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine announced that a compound originally discovered by Vern Schramm, Ph.D., was being evaluated by BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in Brazil as a treatment for COVID-19 patients. The compound, BCX4430, resulted from a long-term collaboration with scientists at the Ferrier Research Institute of Victoria University of Wellington, N.Z., to develop compounds called transition state inhibitors. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.