Coming Soon! Remdesivir: The Magic Bullet to treat Covid-19.
30 Apr 2020
Dr. Anthony Fauci who runs the National Institute of Allergy and Inflectional Diseases (NIAID} at the US said that Remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery from Covid-19. He also said that the results have proved the drug can block this virus and is opening the door to the fact that we now have the capability of treating Covid-19 patients.
The trial was run by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and 1,063 people took part. Some patients were given the drug while others received a placebo (dummy) treatment.
Remdesivir proved the fact that it cut the duration of symptoms from 15 days down to 11 in a clinical trials at hospitals around the world. The full details of this fantastic result have not been published yet, but experts said, if confirmed, Remdesivir will be a magic bullet for Covid-19.
The impact on deaths is not as clear cut. The mortality rate was 8% in people given Remdesivir and 11.6% in those given a placebo, but this result was not statistically significant, meaning scientists cannot tell if the difference is real.
Remdesivir was originally developed as an Ebola treatment. It is an antiviral and works by attacking an enzyme that a virus needs in order to replicate inside our cells. (Courtesy: BBC)
