- US drug regulator approves the use of
Remdesivir for treating hospitalised COVID-19 patients. - The US FDA said Veklury (the drug's brand name) cuts the recovery time on average by five days during clinical trials.
- Cipla, Zydus Cadila, Dr Reddy’s are some of the companies that have launched the generic drug Remdesivir in India
- Remdesivir has received much criticism from experts over its effectiveness. A WHO Solidarity trial found that the drug failed to reduce the mortality or hospital stay of the patients.
The US FDA has said Veklury (drug's brand name) cut the recovery time on average by five days during clinical trials. "Veklury is the first treatment for COVID-19 to receive FDA approval," the FDA said in a statement.
The Remdesivir boost
USFDA has approved the use of the drug for treatment of hospitalised COVID-19 patients — for adults and paediatric patients (12 years of age and older) and weighing at least 40 kilograms. The drug regulator’s decision was supported by the analysis of data from "three randomised, controlled clinical trials that included patients hospitalised with mild-to-severe Covid-19".
Cipla, Zydus Cadila and Dr Reddy Laboratories are among the top drugmakers that have bagged the contract for the manufacturing of Remdesivir in India.
These are the remdesivir drug manufacturers in India:
However not all experts are convinced of Remdesivir’s ‘effectiveness’
The Remdesivir COVID-19 vaccine has received much criticism from experts over its effectiveness. Even a WHO Solidarity trial examined the effects of remdesivir, and three other treatment candidates in more than 11,000 patients in 30 countries and the results from the clinical trial found that none of the drugs “substantially affected mortality,” reduced the need to ventilate patients or shortened hospital stays.
“These remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir, and interferon regimens appeared to have little or no effect on hospitalized COVID-19, as indicated by overall mortality, initiation of ventilation and duration of hospital stay,” the report said.
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