A constant question from friends and family when covering the coronavirus is "When is a drug coming?" The answer is depressing – not for a while. Drug development can only be sped up so much. The greatest near-term hope is a repurposed Ebola drug from Gilead called remdesivir. It's shown some evidence of efficacy, and early trial data may come in April. But the antiviral takes days to infuse, and may only do its best work if delivered early in the course of an infection. A protective vaccine is likely a year to 18 months away in a best-case scenario. In that context, Tuesday's news that Tarrytown, New York-based biotech giant Regeneron is ahead of schedule on a new Covid-19 drug is pretty exciting. It may have a candidate ready for human trials by early summer and has plans to scale up manufacturing capacity rapidly. Many biotechnology companies touting potential Covid-19 treatments have never successfully developed a medicine, let alone a purpose-built one for an epidemic. Regeneron has both developed blockbusters and successfully responded to a deadly outbreak. Using proprietary mice that are bred to feature human-like immune systems, Regeneron developed an antibody cocktail that proved highly effective in preventing Ebola during a recent epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In fact, one of the medicines it outperformed during the multi-drug trial that showed its efficacy was Gilead's remdesivir. The same team and tools are now working on Covid-19. The company wants antibodies that could serve as both prevention and active treatment, and the duality may get it to patients faster. Drugs used for prevention in healthy people face a high safety bar, but those intended for sick patients with few options have more leeway and sometimes can get quick approval. Fancy mice and past success treating a different virus don't guarantee that Regeneron's treatment will work, let alone that the company will move as speedily as it hopes to. But in an environment where many other efforts are retreads or even more distant, Regeneron's effort is grounds for cautious optimism.--Max Nisen | 
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