--- title: China Applies for Patent for Potential Coronavirus Drug description: China has applied for a new patent on an experimental Gilead Sciences Inc. drug that its scientists believe might fight the coronavirus. canonical: https://time.com/5778216/china-patent-coronavirus-drug/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-02-05T07:20:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:52:21.452Z article:section: Health og:title: China Applies for Patent for Potential Coronavirus Drug og:description: China has applied for a new patent on an experimental Gilead Sciences Inc. drug that its scientists believe might fight the coronavirus. og:url: https://time.com/5778216/china-patent-coronavirus-drug/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba7cd6495fe34c91/698a09d1db29872439264e60/wuhan-coronavirus.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: CHINA-VIRUS-HEALTH og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: China Applies for Patent for Potential Coronavirus Drug twitter:description: China has applied for a new patent on an experimental Gilead Sciences Inc. drug that its scientists believe might fight the coronavirus. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba7cd6495fe34c91/698a09d1db29872439264e60/wuhan-coronavirus.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # China Applies for Patent for Drug That Could Fight Coronavirus > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Expert Explains How to Properly Wear a Face Mask [Watch (HLS stream): Expert Explains How to Properly Wear a Face Mask](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/htascX0Q.m3u8) (1:24)  _Published 2020-01-31. Expert Explains How to Properly Wear a Face Mask_ by [Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Bloomberg Contributor Feb 5, 2020 7:20 AM UTC  This photo taken on Jan. 22, 2020 shows medical staff members wearing protective suits at the Zhongnan hospital in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province. This photo taken on Jan. 22, 2020 shows medical staff members wearing protective suits at the Zhongnan hospital in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province.STR/AFP/Getty Images by [Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Bloomberg Contributor Feb 5, 2020 7:20 AM UTC China has applied for a new patent on an experimental Gilead Sciences Inc. drug that its scientists believe might fight the coronavirus. It has applied for a patent for the use of the drug, know as remdesivir, to treat the novel coronavirus. The move is a sign that China views Gilead’s therapy as one of the most promising candidates to fight the outbreak that has now claimed almost 500 lives. A patent battle may affect Gilead’s control over the drug in China. _Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter by clicking_ [_on this link_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/coronavirus?source=article)_, and please send any tips, leads, and stories to_ [_virus@time.com_](mailto:virus@time.com)_._ While Gilead’s experimental drug isn’t licensed or approved anywhere in the world, it is being rushed into human trials in China on coronavirus patients after showing early signs of being highly effective. The patent application was made on Jan. 21, according to a [statement](http://www.whiov.ac.cn/kyjz%5F105338/202002/t20200204%5F5497136.html?from=groupmessage) posted on the website of the virology institute in Wuhan, the central Chinese city at the epicenter of the epidemic. Scientists there have found Gilead’s remdesivir, and chloroquine, an 80-year-old malaria drug, “highly effective” in laboratory studies at thwarting the novel coronavirus, they said Tuesday in a paper in the journal Cell Research. The two drugs’ efficacies on humans required further clinical tests, the institute said in the statement. China is capable of manufacturing chloroquine and now wants access to remdesivir. It is not clear if or when China’s intellectual property authorities will approve the institute’s application. Gilead’s experimental drug is at present entering clinical trials in China on patients with the novel coronavirus. The company is shipping enough doses to treat [500 patients](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-04/trials-of-gilead-coronavirus-drug-in-china-could-start-next-week) and is ramping up supply in case the clinical trials work. Remdesivir is being tested in two trials in China in patients with moderate and severe symptoms of the novel pathogen, said Merdad Parsey, Gilead’s chief medical officer. The Wuhan institute said in its statement that it made the patent application out of national interest, and won’t exercise its patent rights if foreign pharmaceutical firms work together with China to curb the contagion. –With assistance from Jason Gale and Robert Langreth. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5778216/china-patent-coronavirus-drug/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5778216/china-patent-coronavirus-drug/"},"headline":"China Applies for Patent for Drug That Could Fight Coronavirus","datePublished":"2020-02-05T07:20:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:52:21.452Z","description":"China has applied for a new patent on an experimental Gilead Sciences Inc. drug that its scientists believe might fight the coronavirus.","url":"https://time.com/5778216/china-patent-coronavirus-drug/","keywords":["COVID-19","China","Bloomberg","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba7cd6495fe34c91/698a09d1db29872439264e60/wuhan-coronavirus.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Bloomberg","jobTitle":"Contributor","url":"https://time.com/author/bloomberg/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba7cd6495fe34c91/698a09d1db29872439264e60/wuhan-coronavirus.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"CHINA-VIRUS-HEALTH","caption":"CHINA-VIRUS-HEALTH","creditText":"STR/AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/covid-19/","name":"COVID-19"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5778216/china-patent-coronavirus-drug/","name":"China Applies for Patent for Drug That Could Fight Coronavirus"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Expert Explains How to Properly Wear a Face Mask","description":"Expert Explains How to Properly Wear a Face Mask","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/htascX0Q/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2020-01-31T14:24:21.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/htascX0Q.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5778216/china-patent-coronavirus-drug/","duration":"PT1M24S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5778216/china-patent-coronavirus-drug/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```