World's 1st Clinically Tested Drug Approved For COVID-19 Use: India To Test 1000 Doses

COVID-19 is showing no signs of stopping and researchers are leaving no stones unturned to take down the novel coronavirus, and now they¡¯ve finally fast-tracked a promising solution against the pandemic. Well, sort of.

Reuters

The US FDA has allowed the emergency use of experimental antiviral drug ¡®Remdesivir¡¯ to treat COVID-19 patients after early clinical data showed that it is helping COVID-19 patients to recover faster.

The medicine is manufactured by Gilead Sciences and is regarded as the first drug approved to treat COVID-19 patients. This authorisation now allows the intravenous drug to be given to doctors who are advised to administer it to patients with severe case of COVID-19, particularly involving low blood oxygen levels or those who are dependent on ventilators for breathing.

The medicine was actually developed to treat Ebola. However, it has been used in experiments to treat coronaviruses MERS and SARS, that hinted its efficacy towards COVID-19.

Remdesivir is 31 percent effective in treating COVID-19

Remdesivir has shown promise in animal models previously. However, the most recent study conducted by the National Institutes of Health revealed that people who were put on remdesivir recovered 31 percent faster than those who were prescribed a placebo. Another study conducted internally by Gilead revealed that the drug was equally effective over five days of use as it is over 10.

According to Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases, ¡°This is really quite important. This will be the standard of care.¡±

Reuters

Gilead has also announced that is donating its entire supply of 1.5 million doses of remdesivir to the US government, which will help treat 140,000 patients based on a 10-day treatment cycle.

However, not all tests are showing that it¡¯s going to be effective. A randomised trial of the drug (published in lancelet) showed no betterment in the healing of the patients. More tests are crucial to strengthen its efficacy claims.

Reuters

Remdesivir trials in India to begin soon

Gilead has announced that it wants to expand its trials to many countries but it has stated that it will be excluding India from this list as the supply is limited.

However, recently. Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has revealed that it has received 1000 samples of remdesivir and will be testing it on patients soon, as a part of WHO¡¯s solidarity trial, according to a News18 report.

¡°Around four hospitals have been identified as trial sites and are waiting for ethics committee approval. We are also in the process of enrolling patients for the trial. Trials in India can start as soon as the drug arrives,¡± a senior official told TOI.