FDA Approves First COVID-19 Drug: The Antiviral Remdesivir
Oct 22, 2020, 2:35 PM | Updated: 3:04 pm
FOSTER CITY, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 29: A sign is posted in front of the Gilead Sciences headquarters on April 29, 2020 in Foster City, California. Gilead Sciences announced preliminary results of a drug trial with that showed at least 50% of patients with coronavirus that treated with a five-day dosage of remdesivir improved and more than half were released from the hospital within two weeks. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
(AP) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first drug to treat COVID-19: remdesivir, an antiviral medicine given through an IV for patients needing hospitalization.
The drug, which California-based Gilead Sciences Inc. is calling Veklury, cut the time to recovery by five days — from 15 days to 10 on average — in a large study led by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
The @US_FDA today approved our antiviral to treat patients with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization. Read more: https://t.co/Z5lO227KVU. pic.twitter.com/NqebDeoWBv
— Gilead Sciences (@GileadSciences) October 22, 2020
It had been authorized for use on an emergency basis since spring, and now has become the first drug to win full U.S. approval for treating COVID-19.
Gilead says Veklury is approved for people at least 12 years old and weighing at least 88 pounds (40 kilograms) who need hospitalization for their coronavirus infection. It works by inhibiting a substance the virus uses to make copies of itself.
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