Poor wording by The Journal and DM. It makes it sound like CVD is no longer an interest. Both use the word "was". It makes it sound like this is a new direction to salvage it.

The drug is decades in the making and McCaffrey said it was originally being developed to treat other illnesses.

“We’ve been at this a very long time, about 21 years now,” he said. “The drug was being developed for metabolic purposes in cardiovascular conditions, kidney, diabetes and as you may recognize, those are are all areas of grave concern for COVID patients.”