The Food and Drug Administration today authorized emergency use of the experimental antiviral drug remdesivir for treating COVID-19 in the wake of encouraging results from a federally backed clinical trial.
- The FDA’s move was expected after preliminary data suggested that remdesivir could reduce the time required for recovery from a case of COVID-19. President Donald Trump told reporters about the Emergency Use Authorization during an Oval Office photo op with FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn and Gilead Sciences CEO Daniel O’Day, whose company makes the drug.
- O’Day told financial analysts this week that Gilead plans to donate 1.5 million doses of the drug through the early summer. That’s enough for 140,000 courses of treatment. The company is looking into alternate ways to deliver the drug, which is currently administered intravenously, and also exploring options for ramping up production.
- The University of Washington School of Medicine was one of 69 sites around the world participating in the clinical trial. In a news release, UW professor Helen Chu said “it’s really a game changer for the field to know, first of all, that having an antiviral drug that works … to improve clinical outcomes is so important.”
