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The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has officially approved the antiviral drug Remdesivir for the treatment of patients with Covid-19. The drug already had a special permit since May.
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has officially approved the antiviral drug Remdesivir for the treatment of patients with Covid-19. This is a “major scientific milestone in the Covid-19 pandemic,” said FDA spokesman Stephen Hahn. In May, the drug, which will be marketed by the US company Gilead under the name “Veklury”, had already received an exemption for the treatment of infections by the new coronavirus.
“Veklury” is so far the only drug specifically targeting the treatment of Covid 19 patients that has been approved after a strict testing procedure, Gilead said. However, other drugs are already available after special approvals. The EU and other countries have also issued conditional marketing authorizations for Remdesivir.
Remdesivir is actually an Ebola drug
The antiviral drug was developed by Gilead to treat Ebola. According to US studies, its benefit lies in a statistically significant reduction in the recovery time of patients with Covid 19. A reduction in the death rate from the drug has not been shown.
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, was treated with remdesivir, among other things, during his Covid 19 disease. From the beginning there had been a dispute about the suitability of remdesivir as an anti-corona agent. In April, Chinese scientists published a study in the journal “The Lancet”, according to which “no statistically significant clinical benefit could be observed” from the use of remdesivir in patients with crown.
WHO: ineffective remdesivir
The Gilead Group and renowned American virologist Anthony Fauci described the results of the China study as inconclusive – there were too few test subjects. A World Health Organization (WHO) study published last week concluded that remdesivir had little or no effect on mortality or length of hospital stay in patients with corona.
According to Gilead, “Veklury” is intended for people over twelve years of age who weigh at least 40 kilos. It should only be injected in a hospital or similar facility.
