Gilead’s Remdesivir: First COVID-19 drug to be approved by US FDA

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the antiviral drug Veklury (remdesivir) can be used to treat hospitalised adult and pediatric patients of COVID-19 who are 12 years of age and older and weigh at least 40 kg.

The US President Donald Trump was treated using this drug when he tested positive for the infection. It is the only medicine to be approved in the US for coronavirus. 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the drug failed to lower the rate of deaths among the patients infected by the disease or reduce their treatment in hospitals.