Remdesiver: All you need to know about the drug that may soon be used to treat Covid-19

Team Udayavani, Apr 18, 2020, 2:49 PM IST

Remdesiver, an antiviral drug is now being seen as a potential treatment for coronavirus, as trials enter a crucial phase.

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?

Remdesivir works by preventing the SARS-CoV-2 virus from making copies of itself. Instead of blocking viral receptors, remdesivir goes right after the heart of the virus, its RNA and the polymerase enzyme that it uses to make copies of itself.

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