US FDA allowed use of remdesivir drug for severely ill COVID-19 patients

U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for the investigational antiviral drug remdesivir for the treatment of suspected or laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in adults and children hospitalized with severe disease.

A study by Gilead Sciences in the US showed that Remdesivir shortens the recovery time by 31% or about 4 days on average, for hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

The reports also stated that the clinical trials of Remdedivir were conducted on 1,063 patients. When the patients were given the drug, they were able to leave the hospital in 11 days on average versus 15 days for the comparison group.

The drug has not yet tested on people with the milder illness. The medicine is currently given through an IV in a hospital.

Remdesivir would become a new standard of care for severely ill COVID-19 patients.