“Remdisivir” the Drug that May end the Coronavirus Nightmare

Remdesivir, an experimental antiviral drug, may be the antidote to the coronavirus nightmare after early results from a key clinical trial on Wednesday showed it helped patients recover more quickly from the illness caused by the virus.

A top US infectious disease official had said Remdesivir will become the standard of care for Covid-19 after its trial proved it to be effective against the virus.

Preliminary results from a US government trial showing that patients given remdesivir recovered 31% faster than those given a placebo, were hailed by Dr Anthony Fauci as “highly significant.”

“This is really quite important,” Dr Fauci told reporters at the White House, likening it to a moment in 1986 “when we were struggling for drugs for HIV and we had nothing.”

“This will be the standard of care,” he said. “The data shows that remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery.”

The US Food and Drug Administration said it has been in discussions with drug maker Gilead about making remdesivir available to patients as quickly as possible, but the agency declined to comment on any plans to grant the drug regulatory approval.

President Donald Trump said he wants the Food and Drug Administration to move “as quickly as they can” to approve Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug remdesivir as a treatment for the coronavirus.

“We would like to see very quick approvals, especially with things that work,” he said at a roundtable at the White House with business executives Wednesday evening.

Over 3 million persons have been infected with coronavirus globally, over a million recoveries and about 300,000 deaths