The UK is set to launch the world’s first COVID-19 challenge trial in January, the government says.

The trial will be conducted by hVivo, a viral challenge study and lab services company that originated at the Queen Mary University of London, and will use Gilead’s remdesivir as a treatment for participants that contract COVID-19.

It’s not clear where healthy subjects will come from, but challenge trial advocacy group 1DaySooner has built a database of 37,000 volunteers across the world who are willing to participate in COVID-19 challenge trials (CenterWatch Weekly, July 20). UK residents account for about 2,500 of them, according to the organization.

While the National Institutes of Health said it’s preparing a viral strain to be used in challenge trials, the UK is the first to actually launch such a trial.