FDA Approves Expensive Antiviral Drug Remdesivir as COVID-19 Treatment
WHO Funded That Four Main Antiviral Drugs, Including Remdesivir, Do Not Provide Positive Results against Coronavirus
The United States Food and Drug Association has provided approval to Gilead Sciences for the mass distribution of their antiviral drug Remdesivir as COVID-19 treatment, which would help limit and prevent further transmission of the deadly viral pathogen.
The drug was previously only allowed to be used for human consumption in emergency cases and now has governmental authorization for the supply that guarantees a massive profit for the pharmaceutical company amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Approval of Remdesivir to limit coronavirus
The drug Remdesivir as COVID-19 treatment, is the first product to have official approval in the United States to be sold after the announced made by the Food and Drug Association on Thursday.
This new decision has been taken after the antiviral drug Remdesivir as COVID-19 treatment was already allowed to be used in a specified life-threatening condition in the month of May, and only doctors in control hospital environment were allowed to prescribe the medication with periodic monitoring of the patient.
Gilead has issued a public notice confirming the approval of Remdesivir as COVID-19 treatment, but the drug will only be provided to those patients that require monitoring and hospitalization due to the severity of the coronavirus infection, which suggests that the official approval for the drug will not have much effect on its recommendation and usage for treatment.
The antiviral medication Remdesivir as COVID-19 treatment is given to the patient intravenously, due to which it acts faster and helps reduce the time duration of the effecting illness to some of the hospitalized patients, particularly those individuals who have received an oxygen supplement during their treatment.
Even though Remdesivir has been approved for consumption by COVID-19 patients, there is no indication of the drug that it could potentially increase the chances of survival after suffering from rigorous symptoms of the deadly infection.
Human trials for Remdesivir
After the official authorization of the FDA regarding usage of Remdesivir as COVID-19 treatment, several human clinical trials have begun in which Remdesivir is now being used in combination with multiple other drugs. This includes medication used for antibody treatments, like the one which has been recently received by the United States President Donald Trump during his time of hospitalization when he was diagnosed with the coronavirus infection.
Remdesivir, as COVID-19 treatment, was initiated developed to be used as a treatment for the Ebola virus, although the drug later failed to combat the deadly virus but has been classified safe for human mass consumption. Remdesivir basically provides treatment against viral diseases by providing interference during the reproductive phase of the virus.
Unlike several other drugs that have not been approved by the FDA for public use as a treatment against the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic, which also includes anti-malarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, Remdesivir as COVID-19 treatment drug is quite expensive.
The price for a five-day course of Remdesivir is $3,120. The announcement of the increased cost previously had a public outcry in the month of June, as numerous people residing in the United States lost their health insurance policy after been removed from their respective job positions caused by the economic instability and recession amid the initial months of the coronavirus pandemic.
Many American citizens are unable to get medical care by using Remdesivir as COVID-19 treatment due to its expensive price range for only a few day remedial courses.
WHO claims against Remdesivir
The World Health Organization has claimed that the antiviral medication Remdesivir as COVID-19 treatment has inconsistent results, suggesting that the drug provides no help to the human body to fight against the coronavirus infection. The WHO funded a study to test four main antiviral drugs, which contain hydroxychloroquine and Remdesivir. The study included about 11,000 coronavirus infection patients across 30 countries.
The results for the research study concluded that all four do provide little to no effect on the mortality rate, requirement for continuous oxygen supply, and hospital stay days of the infected individuals. The developer of Remdesivir, Gilead Sciences, has denied all claims, stating that they have reliable test results for the drug.