South Korean pharmaceutical company Kainos Medicine said Friday that it had recently signed a contract with a domestic research facility in its efforts to develop a new drug to treat the coronavirus. By analyzing cells infected with coronaviruses -- including SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19 -- the lab will test the antiviral efficacy of the compound developed by Kainos Medicine. ?Kainos Medicine?s self-developed compound has a similar mechanism and chemical structure with those of Gilead Science?s COVID-19 treatment candidate remdesivir, which is why expectations are high for the test result,? a Kainos Medicine official said. Kainos Medicine said it could not reveal the name of the lab to the public for contractual reasons. Kainos Medicine will merge with the Kosdaq-listed Hana Financial Eleventh Special Purpose Acquisition Company in June. By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com