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The US pharmaceutical agency FDA approved the antiviral remdesivir for the treatment of Covid-19 diseases, as the first and only drug so far. This stems from a statement released Thursday. This is a “major scientific milestone in the Covid-19 pandemic,” FDA spokesman Stephen Hahn said Thursday.
Until now, the drug, which will be marketed by the US company Gilead under the name “Veklury”, only had a temporary emergency approval in the United States. In Europe, it was the first drug to receive approval subject to conditions in July for the specific treatment of certain Covid-19 patients. The antiviral drug was developed by Gilead to treat Ebola.
The most prominent patient to be treated with remdesivir is the President of the United States, Donald Trump. According to the FDA, remdesivir can shorten the duration of illness caused by infection with the coronavirus. This has been sufficiently proven. A reduction in the death rate from the drug has not been shown. Remdesivir is not a vaccine.
From the beginning there had been a dispute over 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. The Gilead Group and renowned American virologist Anthony Fauci described the results of the China study as inconclusive – there were too few test subjects.
However, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced last week that several potential corona drugs tested in global test series had shown little or no benefit. This included remdesivir. However, the data from the WHO-coordinated solidarity study had not yet appeared in any peer-reviewed journal and had not been reviewed by scientists.
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.
