LONDON – Clinical care guidelines recommending the use of the HIV/AIDS combination lopinavir-ritonavir for the treatment of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 must now be updated, say the authors of a paper reporting the full results of a randomized U.K. study showing the antiviral is not effective in this context, published in The Lancet on Oct. 5.

Atea Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Boston, brought in a $215 million series D financing to support development of its COVID-19 antiviral, which is designed to inhibit the viral RNA polymerase enzyme, a key element in RNA virus replication.