The US has approved the use of Remdesivir for emergency treatment of COVID-19 related cases, President Donald Trump has announced. The antiviral was first used to treat patients affected by the Ebola virus. This has been manufactured by Gilead Sciences.
“It is a really promising situation”, said President Trump while making an announcement. The antiviral gets into the cell structure of the virus (in this case the SARS-Cov-2) and inhibits its ability to multiple, thus preventing its spread.
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The treatment that is injected into the patient was already available to some individuals on compassionate grounds. The Company has now announced that it is donating 1.5 million samples for free.
It has also been found that in a trial involving more than 1000 people, individuals with respiratory disorders responded better than others. Clinical trials were conducted on 1000 volunteers who have COVID-19.
It was found that the patients who were administered the drug had a 31% faster recovery.