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The drug was initially developed by Gilead as a possible treatment for Ebola, but when early trials against that disease were disappointing, the company put further development on hold. However, previous lab studies showed that remdesivir actually had stronger antiviral activity against coronaviruses
Covid-19 patients who are getting an experimental drug called remdesivir have been recovering quickly as it is causing rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms
How does the drug work?
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Is it effective?
Remdesivir’s first published usages are extremely encouraging. Recently, a Chicago hospital that has been testing remdesivir on severe Covid-19 patients in a closely watched clinical trial has reported highly promising results, including “rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms, with nearly all patients discharged in less than a week,”
WHO panel said in January that remdesivir was considered to be the most promising therapeutic candidate based on its broad antiviral spectrum.
The current status
The experimental antiviral drug remdesivir has proven effective against COVID-19 in a small experiment involving monkeys, on Friday, April 18.
The treated animals showed significant improvement 12 hours after their first dose, a trend that continued over the week-long study