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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe drug did not cure Ebola, and Gilead says on its website:\n“Remdesivir is an experimental medicine that does not have established\nsafety or efficacy for the treatment of any condition.” Gilead also warns\nof possible serious side-effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, President Trump has been a vocal supporter of remdesivir as a\npotential treatment for the coronavirus. In its clinical trial, whose full\nresults are yet to be released, the US National Institute of Allergy and\nInfectious Diseases (NIAID) found that remdesivir cut the duration of symptoms\nfrom 15 days down to 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The trials involved 1,063 people at hospitals around the world – including\nthe US, France, Italy, the UK, China and South Korea. Some patients were given\nthe drug and others were given a placebo (dummy) treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr Anthony Fauci who runs NIAID, said that remdesivir had “a\nclear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to\nrecovery”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, although remdesivir may aid recovery – and possibly stop people\nhaving to be treated in intensive care – the trials did not give any clear\nindication whether it can prevent deaths from coronavirus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As much remains uncertain about the treatment regime, Gilead suggests a\n10-day dosing duration for patients on ventilators and five days for patients\nwho are not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Could other countries use remdesivir?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The FDA’s jurisdiction does not stretch overseas so the authorisation only\napplies to US. Experts also stressed that the emergency use is not the same as\nfull approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gilead says it is currently using up existing stocks of the drug, and the\nsupply is limited. The US government will co-ordinate distribution of\nremdesivir to hospitals in US cities most heavily impacted by Covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So it is not clear how much of the drug could be distributed worldwide, nor\nat what price. Gilead says it is donating 1.5 million individual doses of\nremdesivir, which “equates to more than 140,000 treatment courses that\nwill be provided at no cost”. The emergency distribution in the US is\nincluded in that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But worldwide there are more than three million confirmed cases, in 185\ncountries. Gilead says it is striving to expand production rapidly, with global\npartners. The company aims to produce at least 500,000 treatment courses by\nOctober, 1 million treatment courses by December 2020 and millions more in\n2021, if required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, a US body which studies\ndrug prices, estimated the cost of a 10-day course of remdesivir at $10 (\u00a38),\nbut suggested a cost-effective price could be as much as $4,500, based on the\nclinical trials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at the University\nof Southampton, said the move “shows the importance of exploring the use\nof existing therapeutics when new pathogens emerge”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “This is an important step in options available to clinicians to treat\nthose hospitalised with Covid-19. The data shows that many hospitalised\npatients will die, so although the effectiveness of remdesivir is limited, it\nmay be a useful addition as an option for treatment.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By BBC The authorisation means the anti-viral drug can now be used on people who are hospitalised with severe Covid-19. A recent clinical trial showed the drug helped shorten the recovery time for people who…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,8],"tags":[74,364,365],"class_list":["post-1379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-international","tag-coronavirus","tag-ebola-drug","tag-us-food-and-drug-administration-fda"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/towncryyers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/1221855069.jpg.0-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1\")
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