RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The FDA, the U.S. drug regulatory agency, has taken a historic step toward fighting the pandemic by officially approving the antiviral Remdesivir from Gilead Sciences Inc. laboratory for treatment of moderate and severe cases of Covid-19.
The drug now becomes the first and only fully approved treatment for the infection in the United States. Until now, the antiviral was only authorized for emergency use. President Donald Trump was successfully treated with the drug. The medicine is administered intravenously and reduces the recovery time of hospitalized patients. Patients with the moderate and severe forms of the disease show quick improvement in the respiratory tract and lowering of fever. The drug will cost US$390 per bottle.
The drug is being used in clinical studies in Brazil by several medical centers, such as the Federal University of São Paulo and the Sírio-Libanês Hospital.
Brazilian Bagé André Kalil, 55 years old, infectologist, intensivist, researcher at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, in Omaha, in the central region of the United States, is in charge of the São Paulo studies with the drug, which are ongoing.
Source: Veja