On Jul. 8, 2020, scientists from Texas A&M University, biopharmaceutical company Pulmotect and MD Anderson Cancer Center announced they had begun testing a lung inhalent drug that could provide short-term immunity against COVID-19.

Houston-based company Pulmotect was founded by Magnus Hӧӧk, regents professor at the Texas A&M Health Institute of Biosciences and Technology, and Dr. Burton Dickey, chair of the pulmonary department at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Pulmotect was developing the drug, PUL-042, which could be delivered as an aerosol for short-term protection against lung infections caused by several viruses, bacteria and fungi.