On Apr. 20, 2020, RedHill Biopharma announced an agreement with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), to provide its investigational drug, RHB-107 (upamostat, WX-671)1, for testing in non-clinical studies for activity against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease.

RHB-107 is a serine protease inhibitor active against a number of human trypsins and several other related serine proteases. Inhibition of serine proteases, including trypsins, may inhibit viral attachment and replication and decrease lung damage from viral pneumonia