It was around a few days back that US president Donald Trump asked India to lift the ban of hydroxychloroquine export, as medical experts suggested this anti-malarial drug as an effective medicine to treat coronavirus. Now, a new study conducted by a team of researchers has found that antiviral medication Remdesivir could be another drug that can be used to treat COVID-19.
Remdesivir could revolutionize the battle against coronavirus
Even though this research was done on a small scale, medical experts consider this finding as a breakthrough achievement, as healthcare professionals are finding it difficult to formulate an effective treatment protocol against coronavirus.
"These are patients who received treatment through the compassionate use program for Remdesivir, which is for critically ill patients who are unable to take part in a clinical trial. The results, which cover 53 of the first patients to have been treated in the program, show that the majority demonstrated clinical improvement after taking Remdesivir," said Daniel O'Day, CEO of Remdesivir developer Gilead in a recent statement.
O'Day acknowledged the limitations
In the statement, O'Day acknowledged that this research was done on a small scale, and there were absolutely no clinical trials involved. However, out of the 53 coronavirus patients who were treated with Remdesivir, 36 patients showed improvement in their health status.
"We recognize the limitations of these compassionate use data from a purely investigational perspective while knowing they are of the greatest significance for the patients whose symptoms improved. These early data from 53 patients have not been generated in a clinical trial and cover only a small portion of the critically ill patients who have been treated with Remdesivir," added O'Day.
Remdesivir is one of the most widely prescribed drugs to treat Ebola patients, and with this new finding, this drug has already offered a ray of hope to treat coronavirus. However, medical experts have warned people not to take this drug unless it is prescribed by a doctor.
