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The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the emergency use of remdesivir, an Ebola medication, to treat COVID-19.
Remdesivir is a drug developed by the American pharmaceutical giant Gilead to treat Ebola, and clinical trials have been conducted in recent weeks to determine its efficacy in treating the coronavirus.
As of Friday, the drug was only available to COVID-19 patients enrolled in clinical trials, but the FDA announcement now clears the way for remdesivir to be prescribed more widely in US hospitals. USA As the battle against the coronavirus pandemic continues.
During a meeting with United States President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday, Gilead Chief Executive Daniel O’Day described the emergency authorization as an important first step in discovering a coronavirus treatment, and announced that the pharmaceutical company will donate 1.5 million vials of remdesivir to hospitals in the United States.
Depending on the length of treatment programs, Gilead’s donation could help some 140,000 COVID-19 patients.
Earlier this week, Gilead indicated that positive results had emerged from the remdesivir trials, suggesting that intravenous administration of the antiviral drug might give better results for patients with COVID-19, and that prescribing the drug at an early stage of disease could prove even more effective
The US National Institute of Health. USA He published data this week showing that remdesivir cut hospital stays for COVID-19 patients by 31% compared to placebo treatment, although no significant improvement in survival rates was seen.
Currently, the US USA They have experienced the most serious outbreak of COVID-19 in the world, registering some 65,603 deaths, as well as more than a million confirmed cases since the pandemic began.
Worldwide, deaths from coronavirus now exceed 232,800, while more than 3.2 million infections have been reported.
The potential use of remdesivir as a treatment for COVID-19 has sparked much international interest, and FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said Friday: “It is the first licensed therapy for COVID-19, which is why we are truly proud to be a part of she”. .
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