Man Who Beat Coronavirus Was Given HIV Drug Kaletra

A 62-year-old Spanish man recovered from the increasingly deadly COVID-19, or coronavirus, after doctors gave him the HIV drug Kaletra.

Doctors are reticent to say the protease inhibitor lopinavir-ritonavir, sold under the name Kaletra by AbbVie, Inc., will work for everyone suffering from COVID-19. An infectious disease doctor in Madrid did say the coronavirus shows similarities to HIV.

"The results that we have so far regarding [Kaletra's] use against coronaviruses are encouraging," Dr. Santiago Moreno said, according to Metro UK.

To treat the Spanish patient, Miguel Ángel Benítez, doctors combined Kaletra with a protein used to treat multiple sclerosis. 

Hospitals in Wuhan, China are also utilizing HIV drugs to treat patients in the area, site of the first spread of COVID-19.

Coronavirus has now killed at least 12 people in the U.S. as of Thursday afternoon, according to the Washington Post. CDC officials advise Americans to wash their hands regularly, for at least 20-30 seconds, to ward off the illness.