US Approves Gilead’s Remdesivir Drug For COVID-19 Patients

President Donald Trump on Friday has announced the experimental drug remdesivir authorized by US regulators for emergency use against coronavirus.

It comes after the antiviral made by Gilead Sciences was shown in a major clinical trial to shorten the time to recovery in some coronavirus patients, the first time any medicine has had a proven benefit against the disease.

Specifically, patients on the drug had a 31 per cent faster time to recovery.

Trump has been a vocal supporter of remdesivir as a possible way to bring the novel coronavirus pandemic under control. Nearly 65,000 Americans have died in the global crisis.
It represents the first time any medication has been shown to improve outcomes against the coronavirus illness, which has claimed more than 200,000 lives globally and brought the world economy to a grinding halt.

Anthony Fauci, who oversaw the investigation, told reporters at the White House: “The data shows that remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery.”

He added that the trial was proof “that a drug can block this virus,” and compared the finding to the arrival of the first antiretrovirals that worked against HIV in the 1980s, albeit with modest success at first.

Remdesivir incorporates itself into the virus’s genome, short-circuiting its replication process.

It was first developed to treat Ebola, a viral hemorrhagic fever, but did not boost survival rates as other medicines.