(Photo via Gilead website)
Remdesivir, a drug made by Gilead, is showing some promise in fighting Covid-19 by reducing by four days the recovery time, according to the New York Times.
The drug was developed to fight Ebola, but didn’t work well in trials in Africa.
Earlier tests of the drug didn’t prove that the drug had much effect, but showed that it caused no harm and was safe to take.
In this latest trial, 1,063 patients with Covid-19 were given either remdesivir or a placebo. For those who received remdesivir, recovery time averaged 11 days. For those on the placebo, recovery time averaged 15 days. And there were fewer deaths among those on remdesivir, but not enough to make a statistical difference, Dr. Anthony Fauci said while announcing the results.
Remdesivir hasn’t been approved to treat any illness, but the Food and Drug Administration plans to announce emergency-use authorization for remdesivir.
— David Taffet
