Remdesivir is the first drug found to block the coronavirus
An antiviral drug called remdesivir is the first treatment to show efficacy against the coronavirus. Preliminary results from a clinical trial comparing the drug with a placebo suggest that remdesivir speeds recovery from COVID-19 by 31 percent, the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said April 29 in a news release. The international trial randomly assigned 1,063 people hospitalized with COVID-19 to get intravenous infusions of either remdesivir or a placebo. In the remdesivir group, the median time to recovery was 11 days, compared with 15 days for those on the placebo. Recovery was defined as being discharged from the hospital or being well enough to resume normal activity. Eight percent of people in the remdesivir group died, compared with 11 percent in the placebo group. “Although a 31 percent improvement doesn’t seem like a knockout 100 percent, it is a very important proof of concept,” Anthony Fauci, director of the NIAID, said April 29 during a news briefing at the White...