North Korea says it has succeeded where the greatest minds in science have failed.

North Korea announced Friday it has a drug that can prevent and cure MERS, Ebola, SARS and AIDS, Fox News reported on Friday.

The secretive state did not provide proof, and the claim is likely to provoke widespread skepticism.

The official Korean Central News Agency said scientists developed Kumdang-2 from ginseng grown from fertilizer mixed with rare-earth elements. According to the pro-North Korea website Minjok Tongshin, the drug was originally produced in 1996.

North Korea trumpeted the same drug during deadly bird flu outbreaks in 2006 and 2013.

The North's claim comes as rival South Korea fights an outbreak of MERS that has killed two dozen people and sickened more than 160 since last month. There is no vaccine for the disease.