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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – United States President Donald Trump greeted the good news on Wednesday that an experimental antiviral drug from Gilead Sciences Inc could help fight the coronavirus, and infectious disease official Anthony Fauci said the data shows which seems to help hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
However, Fauci told reporters during a White House meeting with Trump that the drug data, remdesivir, should be further analyzed.
According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, some of the test data for the drug is likely to be announced later Wednesday at a briefing by the White House task force.
Gilead said Wednesday that remdesivir helped improve outcomes for COVID-19 patients in a clinical trial, and provided data suggesting that it worked better when administered earlier in the course of illness caused by the virus. The closely watched drug has moved markets in recent weeks after the release of partial information on several studies that painted a mixed picture of its effectiveness.
Former head of the United States Food and Drug Administration Scott Gottlieb said on Twitter that there was now enough data to support the authorization of the drug for emergency use.
Fauci told reporters that the data shows that the drug had a benefit by reducing the virus’s recovery time. While the data has yet to be peer-reviewed, he said he is opening the door to the possibility of treatment.
There are currently no approved treatments or vaccines for the novel highly contagious coronavirus, but many approaches are being tried while awaiting an effective vaccine to prevent virus infection.
Trump said it is a beginning that can be built on.
When asked previously by Fox Business Network whether the results announced by Gilead were positive for the economy, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said: “It has to be extremely positive.”
“These are inspiring confidence things that will help open up the economy and get people back to work,” he said of any promising drug trial.
(Report by Steve Holland and Susan Heavey; Additional report by Tim Ahmann; Writing by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Berkrot)
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