3. Veklury (remdesivir): The first FDA-approved treatment for SARS-CoV-2
A ball-and-stick model of remdesivir. Image from Wikipedia.
Developer: Gilead (NSDQ: GILD)
Description: Remdesivir became one of the first COVID-19 therapies to receive emergency use authorization in May 2020. First developed to treat Ebola and Marburg virus infections, interest in the drug waned until the COVID-19 pandemic. Remdesivir became one of the first therapies to win emergency use authorization for SARS-CoV-2. While some reports suggest a modest clinical benefit for the treatment, critics such as the New York Times have called the drug “mediocre.” The organizers of a study known as the “Solidarity” trial concluded that remdesivir had “little or no effect on overall mortality, initiation of ventilation and duration of hospital stay in hospitalized [COVID-19] patients.”
Development status: Remdesivir obtained EUA in May 2020. The drug won full approval in Oct. 2020, making it the first FDA-approved treatment for COVID-19.
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