The COVID-19 pandemic is getting worse. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of Thursday morning, there were more than 125,000 confirmed cases in the world, and the novel coronavirus had caused more than 4,600 deaths. The importance of developing vaccines and treatments for this rapidly spreading disease can hardly be overstated. In light of that, a host of drugmakers are already looking to find ways to treat or prevent COVID-19, and the latest to join their ranks is Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), the world's tenth-largest pharmaceutical company. On Friday, Eli Lilly announced it had entered into a partnership with a privately held AbCellera Biologics, which focuses on developing therapeutic antibodies. Image Source: Getty Images. A race to beat COVID-19 Eli Lilly will bring its capacity for "rapid development, manufacturing and distribution of therapeutic antibodies" to this partnership, while AbCellera will make use of its "rapid pandemic response platform." It's worth mentioning that after receiving a blood sample from the first U.S. patient who recovered from COVID-19, AbCellera was able to identify 500 antibody sequences with the potential to be effective against SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19). That's the largest known pool of potential antibodies against the novel coronavirus. The company will now try to identify which of these 500 antibodies could be the most effective against SARS-CoV-2. While it will be worthwhile to keep an eye on this partnership between Eli Lilly and AbCellera -- and how their joint efforts progress -- other pharmaceutical companies are further ahead in their quests to beat COVID-19. On Feb. 26, Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) announced the initiation of two phase 3 studies to investigate the efficacy of its antiviral drug remdesivir as a potential treatment for COVID-19. 10 stocks we like better than Gilead SciencesWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Gilead Sciences wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of December 1, 2019 Prosper Junior Bakiny has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Gilead Sciences. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source