FDA approves Remdesivir as a treatment for Coronavirus.

 

Remdesivir being produced at a Gilead factory. Politico/Gilead.  

The FDA has approved Remdesivir as the first treatment for Coronavirus. Politico. In three FDA administered trials they found that the drug reduces the length of hospital stays and reduces the need for oxygen. However, the trials did not find that the drug reduces the death rate. However, WHO studies have not found Remdesivir to be an effective treatment. 

My Comment:

Remdesivir was created as a treatment for Ebola but it was never effective in that role. However, it does seem now that it helps with Coronavirus infections. The drug is a powerful antiviral and it has been used to treat many people infected with the virus. Even President Trump used the drug when he got sick and it seems to have worked out well for him. 

But why doesn't it save lives? My guess is that the drug works by stopping the virus from reproducing and if you wait to administer it to someone who is already critical there isn't much point. The virus has already expanded enough and done enough damage that they are probably going to die anyways. 

What it does seem to do is reduce the suffering for sick patients and keep them from going critical. Many of these patients would survive otherwise but this drug may help prevent long term effects from the virus. Though not a cure this is still a huge deal and even if it doesn't help with the death rate all that much it will help people in the end. 

Of course, combined with other treatments the drug could indeed help people survive the disease. President Trump wasn't just treated with Remdesivir, he also got steroids and an antibody treatment. The drugs were so effective for him he went from getting oxygen to doing three campaign events a day. It won't work that way for everyone but it does show that if you are sick that there is hope. 

This is going to be a huge financial boon for Gilead, the company that developed Remdesivir. As the only FDA approved treatment for Coronavirus, millions of doses are going to be made and the drug isn't exactly cheap either. If I had a better knowledge of investment I probably would have bought stocks awhile back and if I had I would be rich right now...

As for the virus itself, I think the outbreak is in a new stage. Yes, a ton of people are still getting sick, especially in my area, but the difference is that now we have effective treatments for the disease. It's not the mystery it once was, we know a lot better how to deal with it. And I have said it before, the disease itself has changed. Back in the early days of the outbreak there was a ton of video of people just dropping dead in the streets. That hasn't happened for months now and it's clear that the virus has mutated to a less lethal form.