Remdesivir could be the remedy for coronavirus

Washington - The median time to recovery was 11 days for patients treated with remdesivir.

Covid-19 patients who took the antiviral remdesivir recovered about 30 per cent faster than those on a placebo, the results of a major clinical trial showed, as the top US epidemiologist hailed the drug's "clear-cut" benefit.

The finding represents the first time any medication has been shown to improve outcomes against the Covid-19 illness, which has claimed more than 220,000 lives globally and ground the world economy to a halt.

The US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which oversaw the trial, said that patients on the drug made by Gilead Sciences had a 31 per cent faster time to recovery than those on a placebo.

"Specifically, the median time to recovery was 11 days for patients treated with remdesivir compared with 15 days for those who received placebo," it said.

For Anthony Fauci, who leads the NIAID, "the data shows that remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery."

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