Roche Looking for New Place to Test COVID-19 Pill After Cases Plummet in UK

A sign at a diagnostics site for Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche is seen, in Burgess Hill, Britain, on Oct. 7, 2020. Peter Nicholls/Reuters

ZURICH—Roche is looking for another location to carry out trials of its pill to fight COVID-19, after plummeting case numbers in Britain made it difficult to find enough patients for its study there, the Swiss drugmaker said on Wednesday.

Roche and Boston-based partner Atea Pharmaceuticals are hoping their AT-527 pill could offer an anti-viral therapy to treat COVID-19 patients that would be easier to administer and cheaper than other prospective treatments, such as antibody cocktails or Gilead Science’s remdesivir.