This photo has been used for illustrative purpose only.

More than 30 studies are under way in France — of a world total of 860 — in search of drugs to treat the COVID-19 disease sweeping the world, infectologist Florence Ader said Sunday.

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The research is "extremely active" in France involving some 1,600 patients, Ader told a news conference.|

Ader heads up a study dubbed Discovery in collaboration with several other European countries, with researchers conducting clinical trials of four potential treatments including the controversial hydroxychloroquine.

 French researcher Florence Ader speaks at a news conference. Reuters

Of some 3,200 patients in Europe, at least 800 are in France. All are in hospital and severely ill with COVID-19.

Around the world some 150 projects seek to develop a vaccine against the novel coronavirus. France's prestigious Institut Pasteur will carry out trials on humans by this summer, Ader said.

Agence France-Presse