A new study claimed that Remdesivir was “effective” in treating patients with coronavirus disease, according to a top US doctor.
According to a top US doctor, a new study claimed that Remdesivir, an antiviral drug, was “effective” in treating patients with coronavirus disease.
This, as Anthony Fauci, a top US doctor, said that this antiviral drug has a “clear-cut, significant, positive effect” in shortening the time of recovery, adding that the Remdesivir can “block” the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19.
The Antiviral Drug Maker’s Study
Gilead Sciences, the maker of the said antiviral drug, released its findings of the trial of the antiviral drug Wednesday (US time).
The said study found out that the infected patients (as respondents of this study) did “just as well” taking the antiviral drug for five days compared to those patients who took the drug for 10 days.
However, Sonia Choi, the spokesperson of Gilead Sciences, said that the company prioritized the production of antiviral drugs over a placebo early in the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that Gilead Sciences prioritized the placebo for other certain studies.
In a statement from Gilead Sciences, the “open-label study design” was needed in order to understand whether reducing the duration of therapy could lead to “earlier discharge from the hospital”.
Early Release of Remdesivir
Anthony Fauci stated that Gilead Sciences was in talks with the US government to get an early release of the said drug for “neediest” COVID-19-infected patients.
The “neediest” COVID-19-infected patients, according to Fauci, were referring to the seriously-ill patients instead of those COVID-19 patients with mild or early symptoms.
Will FDA Approve This Antiviral Drug?
In a separate report from The New York Times, the Food and Drug Administration in the United States planned to announce an “emergency-use authorization” of the said antiviral drug. The US FDA said in a statement to CNN that it was in talks with Gilead Sciences about making Remdesivir available to COVID-19 patients.
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