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The United States Food and Drug Administration has authorized Gilead Sciences for the emergency use of its experimental remdesivir of antiviral drugs to treat patients with Covid-19.
During a meeting in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump, Gilead Chief Executive Daniel O’Day called the move an important first step, saying the company was donating 1.5 million vials of the drug to help the patients.
The FDA acted after preliminary results from a government-sponsored study showed that remdesivir shortened recovery time by 31%, or about four days on average, for patients hospitalized with Covid-19.
The study of 1,063 patients is the largest and strictest test of the drug and included a control group that received usual care, so the effects of remdesivir could be rigorously evaluated.
Those who received the medication were able to leave the hospital in 11 days on average, compared to 15 days for the comparison group. The drug may also be reducing deaths, although that is not certain from the partial results revealed so far.
Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said the drug would become a new standard of care for seriously ill Covid-19 patients like those in this study.
The drug has not been tested in people with milder illnesses, and is currently administered intravenously in a hospital.
The FDA previously authorized the emergency use of an antimalarial drug, hydroxychloroquine, after President Donald Trump repeatedly promoted it as a possible treatment for Covid-19.
However, there are no large, high-quality studies that have shown the drug to work for that, and it has major safety concerns.
Meanwhile, the top US health official. The US, Dr. Anthony Fauci, will not testify next week before a congressional committee that will examine the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, the White House said, calling it “counterproductive” for people involved in the response to testify. .
The White House released a statement via email after a spokesman for the House of Representatives committee holding the hearing said the panel had been informed by Trump administration officials that Dr. Fauci had been blocked from testifying.
“While the Trump administration continues its government-wide response to Covid-19, including the safe opening of the United States again and streamlining vaccine development, it is counterproductive to have the same people involved in those efforts that appear in Congress, “White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement.
“We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time.”
The House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees health programs was seeking Dr. Fauci’s testimony for a hearing on May 6, spokesman Evan Hollander said.
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