“Racing to a Cure” Debuts Tonight as a Multi-Platform Series, Taking Viewers Inside the Search for New Ways to End the Pandemic; Click Here to Watch a Preview

The Exclusive Series Will Explore the Path Forward Through Interviews with Medical Experts and Patients on the Frontlines and Show New Approaches Now Being Tested to Combat the Virus

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the CBS EVENING NEWS WITH NORAH O’DONNELL (6:30 -7:00 PM, ET) is launching a new multi-platform series on-air and online designed to take viewers inside the search for treatments and vaccines. “Racing to a Cure” begins Monday, April 13 as a week-long series and will be featured regularly on the broadcast throughout the crisis. Additional reporting will be featured on CBSEveningNews.com and on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Through in-depth storytelling, original reporting and interviews with medical experts and patients on the forefront of groundbreaking research, the series will provide the latest news and critical context about the path forward on treatments for COVID-19. Every night this week, O’Donnell and the team of CBS News journalists will explore innovative treatments being developed at an unprecedented rate and report on new approaches being used against the virus.

“Medicine is the only way we will ultimately beat this horrible disease. That’s why we are shining a light on the cutting-edge research being done in the United States and around the world,” said Jay Shaylor, executive producer of the CBS EVENING NEWS WITH NORAH O’DONNELL.

As scientists feverishly search for a cure, there is tension between the need for therapies now and the worry that some might do more harm than good. Dozens of trials are underway.

In tonight’s “Racing to a Cure” report, CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook gives viewers a first look at a clinical trial at Northwell Health, where doctors are testing the rheumatoid arthritis drug Kevzara to see if it can decrease severe inflammation caused by the virus, which ends up damaging the lungs. LaPook speaks with the first patient involved in the Northwell Health trial of Kevzara, as well as the chief medical officer at Genentech, the company testing a similar anti-inflammatory drug.

The series will also look at two drugs under consideration as possible treatments: Remdesivir, originally designed for Ebola, and Hydroxychloroquine, which is approved to treat malaria.

Later this week, “Racing to a Cure” will feature reporting on an experimental therapy that uses blood plasma from recovered patients to treat the sick. Plus, the series will take a look at what can be learned from a new program in Italy that tests for signs of coronavirus immunity in an effort to reopen the economy.

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