Why Reports of Drugs for Coronavirus Are Premature

Just weeks into the epidemic of novel coronavirus, reports of treatments and vaccines against infection with 2019-nCoV are causing pockets of excitement. The word that often isn’t mentioned is “experimental.” No drugs or preventives have yet been approved against the virus that’s infected more than 24,000 people — 99% of them in China — and killed close to 500. Scientists and companies plan to fill the vacuum with new tools for fighting the virus.