Unprecedented efforts to collaborate across the pharmaceutical industry have significantly accelerated the search for safe and effective treatments for the novel coronavirus, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations said.

"Over 130 COVID-19 therapeutics are under investigation," IFPMA director Thomas Cueni told a virtual briefing, along with a number of pharmaceutical company executives.

The team detailed work on different therapies currently being considered, including anti-malarials, anti-virals, immunotherapies and plasma treatments. Cueni said 77 of them were existing drugs being tested to see if they could be repurposed for use against COVID-19, while 68 were new treatments.

Most were still in the early stages of testing, he said, adding that more than 25 clinical trials had already begun.

"This is really good news for all of us, because we do hope that sooner rather than later we will see first successes in containing and treating COVID-19," he said.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2020