https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2020/03/24/scientists-narrow-list-drugs-could-slow-stop-coronavirus/2901157001/

But there is already concern from some that in announcing progress so early in the research process, hopes might get raised prematurely. The editor of Science, one of the leading journals, wrote an editorial saying, "I am worried that science may end up overpromising on what can be delivered in response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)."

The sense of speed and hope has been especially evident over the past few days.

Authors of the study that produced the list of 69 drug candidates for COVID-19 have already sent the first 10 drugs for testing at Institut Pasteur in Paris and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, both of which have samples of the live virus.

"In a few hours we'll have the first results," said Nevan J. Krogan, a molecular biologist at University of California, San Francisco, whose lab coordinated the study. He was speaking shortly after 5 p.m. Monday Central time.

Although he had results back from New York on Tuesday, Krogan said they were too preliminary to discuss. "I just can't right now," he said.

Krogan stressed that the tests need to be repeated.

"They're repeating the experiments very quickly," he said, adding that researchers will have a much better idea of the most promising candidates likely within the next five days. 

The new study raises hope that one or more of the drugs may be able to interfere with the virus and slow or stop the disease, according to a draft research paper shared on a website run by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island, N.Y. The paper, based on work by about 90 scientists from more than a dozen universities and institutions, has not been peer-reviewed.