Rutgers University has launched a clinical trial to test the safety and efficacy of a new drug that could help prevent serious illness and death in early-stage COVID-19 patients. The drug is called EDP1815. It is administered orally, and is said to be anti-inflammatory and very safe. It will be given to newly hospitalized COVID-19 patients at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. They hope to determine if it can regulate the onslaught of something called “cytokine storms,” which cause the immune system to attack organs, such as the lungs, which lead to the immune system malfunctioning and become deadly – and is the reason for severe cases of respiratory distress and death. To read the full story.