Pharmaceutical giants are still in the race of finding the vaccine that could prevent the further spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Boston-based biotech Moderna on Monday announced that it had begun the first phase-three study of vaccines in the United States, according to a report. With this, Moderna's shares went up as much as 10.6 percent before paring some gains.

President Donald Trump said it was the fastest a vaccine for a novel pathogen has ever gone. Trump added that other vaccine producers were also heading into final trials soon.

Positive news from vaccine trials have raised hopes as the number of positive cases in the U.S. continue to rise.

Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Program, said vaccines are never 100 percent effective. However, experts noted that despite this fact, it would still be safe and an important instrument to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

WHO said there will still be a part of the population that will not be protected after vaccination, while for others, this protection might diminish over time.

But as the medical and drug-making industry are still testing vaccines for trials, how can COVID-19 be treated? Fortunately, there are drugs that had reportedly shown efficacy in treating the disease, while waiting for a vaccine.

Here are some of those:

Remdesivir

This drug was originally developed for Ebola. But it shows that it can also stop SARS-CoV-2, which is the virus that causes COVID-19 from replicating.

This is the only drug that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved specifically for the treatment of COVID-19, under a special emergency authorization.

H. Dirk Sostman, MD, president of the Houston Methodist Academic Institute, said there is evidence showing that it reduces the length of illness, as well as mortality.

In a New England Journal of Medicine published study, it said that hospitalized patients taking remdesivir recovered in about 11 days compared to those who only took a placebo and recovered after 15 days.

Dexamethasone

This is a powerful steroid that fights inflammation. Dexamethasone has been available for decades and has a good safety record.

In a study released in June 2020, the drug was found to cut deaths by one-third in COVID-19 patients on a ventilator. This also reduced death by one-fifth in patients, who needed oxygen, but not ventilation.

Heparin

The drug was found to inactivate the virus by having the virus attached to the drug instead of healthy cells. This helps neutralize the infection.

Matthew G. Heinz, MD, a hospitalist in Tucson, said hospitals are also using this in hospitalized patients.

Monoclonal antibodies

The monoclonal antibodies make the immune system recognize and attack a potential invader to your immune system.

Doctors also use this in people with autoimmune disease such as lupus and rheumatoid disease.

Interferon

Interferon is a protein released by cells when they are infected with a virus. The protein signals to other cells that an infection is incoming and to build up its antiviral defenses.

This is also used to treat people with conditions like Hodgkin's lymphoma, hepatitis C, and multiple sclerosis.

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