Table of Contents
What is Remdesivir?
- Remdesivir is an experimental antiviral drug that was developed by US pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences first for Hepatitis C and then as a potential treatment for Ebola.
- The drug was rapidly pushed through clinical trials after the 2013-16 Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
- The drug was one among four therapies, which underwent clinical trials in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2018.
- Remdesivir wasn’t a successful candidate for Ebola. The other two were better against Ebola Virus.
- 2020 January: Remdesivir made a revival as a treatment for Covid-19 as it had shown promising results in blocking Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).
April 10: First Study
- Compassionate drug use is the use of a new, unapproved drug to treat a seriously ill patient when no other treatments are available.
Reduces Recovery Time {15 to 11 Days}
- The patients who were administered the drug, he added, were discharged from the hospital in 11 days, on average, as compared to 15 days.
- “What it has proven is that a drug can block this virus,” He said the drug would become part of standard Covid19 care in the US.
1-May
- It is to be used for hospitalized patients with “severe disease,” such as those who need supplemental oxygen or ventilators to breathe.
FDA Approves Emergency Use Of Ramdevsivir For COVID 19
- Will it reduce deaths?
- This part is still under review. Three other trials have been conducted to test the efficacy of remdesivir for Covid-19 treatment.
Are there side effects of Remdesivir?
- As per the FDA, two possible side effects of remdesivir are as follows:
- Increase in the levels of liver enzymes, indicating that it may negatively affect the liver.
- Infusion-related reaction during the administration of the drug. It shows up as nausea, vomiting, shivering, sweating and low blood pressure.
- Covid-19 has killed over 2.5 lakh people worldwide since it was first reported in December 2019, but a cure and vaccination remain elusive.