Remdesivir Receives Approval from FDA, First Among for COVID-19 Treatment

Remdesivir is an antiviral drug, which means that the quantity of virus in the human system is expected to reduce. In clinical and animal research, the drug has been shown to do so; but it still has not been proved to function in humans.

The drug, manufactured by Gilead Sciences, was approved by the FDA in May for emergency purposes. An emergency use approval implied that doctors might administer the medication to Covid-19 patients, but beforehand, they must go through a formal consent procedure with the patients' families.

However, a drug manufacturer has to provide additional support and efficacy findings to receive complete FDA approval. An experimental trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health showed that medication shortened hospital stay time by about four days from 11 and 15 days between patients with mild to moderate diseases.

Remdesivir has not substantially reduced the death rates of Covid-19. And current initial data from the World Health Organization revealed that the drug has been of little use to the very infected population of Covid-19 patients. Numerous infectious disease specialists were not shocked by the result, who claim antivirals like remdesivir typically work effectively if they are taken early.

On Thursday, the food and drug administration authorized remdesivir to treat patients over the age of 12 who have been admitted with the Covid-19 disease, rendering it the first drug to have obtained federal coronavirus clearance thus far. It is taken orally, ideally for five days.

It is anticipated that Thursday's approval would optimize and improve the procedure for doctors.

"It is incredible to be in the position today, less than one year since the earliest case reports of the disease now known as Covid-19, of having an FDA-approved treatment in the U.S. that is available for all appropriate patients in need," Daniel O'Day, Gilead's CEO, had stated in a comment.

In the brand name Veklury, Gilead will distribute the product.

What did the FDA say?

FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn had said: "Today's approval is supported by data from multiple clinical trials that the agency has rigorously assessed and represents an important scientific milestone in the Covid-19 pandemic."

The regulator claimed that the inspection of evidence from "three randomized, controlled clinical trials that included patients hospitalized with mild-to-severe Covid-19" validated its assessment.

One research indicates that "the median time to recovery from Covid-19 was ten days for the Veklury group compared to 15 days for the placebo group".

WHO to continue its research

The WHO examined the results of four new drugs in its Solidarity clinical trial: remdesivir was one, yet they still looked at the malaria treatment hydroxychloroquine, the inflammatory drug interferon, and the combination of lopinavir and ritonavir of the HIV medication.

This research did not involve Dexamethasone, a low-cost steroid now commonly prescribed in intensive care units with Covid-19 patients in the U.K.

According to WHO, the findings have yet to be peer-reviewed; it showed how none of these treatments had a significant impact on mortality or even the amount of time spent in hospitals.