COVID-19 is now at the mercy of a drug that was presented and then rejected as a cure for the ebola virus.
According to a report in The Print, Remdesivir, manufactured by US company Gilead Sciences, is currently subjected to at least four trials on coronavirus patients, including two in China.
“The limited preclinical data on remdesivir in MERS and SARS indicate that remdesivir may have potential activity against COVID-19,” Gilead Sciences was quoted stating on its website.
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MERS or the Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome and SARS or the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome are two earlier outbreaks caused by the coronavirus family, to which the novel strain at the heart of the ongoing outbreak belongs.
An outbreak of the Ebola virus in three African countries between 2014 and 2016 killed thousands of people.
Gilead Sciences’ claim about Remdesivir’s potential efficacy against coronavirus has been endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
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WHO assistant director-general Bruce Aylward was quoted as saying at a press briefing in Beijing, “There is only one drug right now that we think may have real efficacy, and that’s Remdesivir.”