A new broad-spectrum antivirus spray has been put into use at the emergency wards of Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, protecting medical staff from the new coronavirus.

Medical employees now can all use the antivirus spray before entering the quarantine area. They would open their mouths to breathe in the spray, and let the medicine access their respiratory tract, providing bioactive protection against infection. It is used alongside the biohazard suits and masks.

The new medicine has been developed by a group of scientists of the emerging and recurring epidemic research institute at the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center. According to Xu Jianqing, head of the institute, his team spent more than six years developing the new drug for the treatment for infectious diseases in the respiratory tract. Now the drug has proved effective on animal models, reached the criterion for clinical use, and passed the GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) standard.

The drug has proved effective against the new coronavirus, he told The Paper, a Shanghai-based news portal. The spray has played a positive role in the treatment of early-stage infections, he said. However, the new medicine has not yet acquired the license for market approval, so that it cannot be legitimately used for the clinical treatment of patients. It is now only used on medical staff at the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center.

The new spray contains two active ingredients, he explained. One restrains the duplication of the virus and the other controls the process of the virus causing illness in people. The virus made people sick by causing inflammation, he explained. The active ingredients can suppress the inflammation, and repair the respiratory tract mucosa.

Also, because the new medicine has not acquired the license for production, it cannot be mass produced in a short period.