Remdesivir has received emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after a major study showed that it can reduce recovery time for hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
In a news release on Friday, the FDA said it has issued the EUA for “treatment of suspected or laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in adults and children hospitalized with severe disease.” The FDA acknowledged there is “limited information” so far about how effective or safe the drug is.
Preliminary results from a 1,063-patient clinical trial by the U.S. National Institutes of Health showed that patients given remdesivir recovered in a shorter than those given a placebo.