FDA approves remdesivir for hospitalized COVID-19 patients

By The Science Advisory Board staff writers

October 23, 2020 -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the antiviral drug remdesivir (Veklury) from Gilead Sciences for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization.

Veklury was previously authorized by the FDA for emergency use to treat COVID-19, and is now the first and only approved COVID-19 treatment in the U.S. The drug is indicated for adults and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older for the treatment of COVID-19 and should only be administered in a hospital or healthcare setting.

The approval is based on three randomized controlled trials, including a U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)-led double blind, placebo-controlled phase III Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial (ACTT)-1 trial that showed treatment resulted in clinically meaningful improvements.

In conjunction with the approval, the FDA also issued a new emergency use authorization (EUA) for the use of Veklury to treat hospitalized pediatric patients under 12 years of age weighing at least 3.5 kg with suspected or laboratory confirmed COVID-19 for whom use of an intravenous (IV) agent is clinically appropriate.

Pfizer to manufacture remdesivir for Gilead
Pfizer has inked a multiyear agreement with Gilead Sciences to manufacture and supply Gilead's investigational antiviral drug remdesivir, joining other...
Gilead licenses remdesivir to increase global access
Gilead Sciences has inked several agreements for the manufacture and distribution of remdesivir, which has been issued an emergency use authorization...
FDA issues EUA for remdesivir to treat severe COVID-19 cases
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the investigational antiviral drug remdesivir to be used...
Controversy hits Gilead over orphan status for COVID-19 drug
Gilead Sciences has rescinded its request for orphan drug status for an experimental drug for treating COVID-19 just two days after getting approval from...

Copyright © 2020 scienceboard.net


Conferences
Connect
Science Advisory Board on LinkedIn
Science Advisory Board on Facebook
Science Advisory Board on Twitter