Remdesivir has shown in-vitro activity against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19 disease
The conquest of finding a cure for coronavirus, the current cause of fatal pandemic of the year, is a fast-growing field of research.
Although a definite therapy has not yet been discovered, current therapies depend on severity of the patient’s symptoms and can vary from invasive or noninvasive oxygen support to anti-parasitic drugs, anti-inflammatory compounds, or antiviral injections.
Covid-19 disease is caused by SARS-CoV-2 viral infection. In-vitro studies on an antiviral Remdesivir drug has shown promising results by inhibiting viral RNA polymerases of SARS-CoV-2 infected cells on petri dishes and its safety has been tested over 500 people for the Ebola virus infection.
A group of researchers at Gilead Sciences took this drug into compassionate-use trial on 53 hospitalized Covid-19 sever case patients. During the treatment, 200 mg of Remdesivir was intravenously administered on day 1, followed by 100 mg daily for 9 consecutive days. Upon 18 day follow up, 36 patients out of 53 (68% percent) showed clinical improvements in oxygen-support class. Measurement of efficacy is still on going and it would require placebo-controlled trials to complete this study.
Unit now there is no approved and proven treatment for Covid-19. The best practice to help prevent transmission of the disease is regular hand washing and social distancing.
Source: https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa2007016?articleTools=true