TNF and viral pneumonia: The TNF lectin-like region, mimicked by the TIP peptide (a.k.a. Solnatide, AP-301), is showing promising outcomes in recent clinical trials in ARDS and lung transplantation and may represent a prototype for alternative therapeutic strategies, apart from TNF inhibitory antibodies or soluble receptor constructs, to blunt the harmful, but retain the potentially beneficial activities of TNF required in host defense in acute lung injury and ARDS, as well as in bacterial and viral pneumonia, including COVID-19 pneumonia.