President Donald Trump is endorsing an antiviral drug that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized for emergency use in the treatment of the novel coronavirus, describing it as the “hot thing” in the media, Newsweek reported.
Remdesivir has been granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) following promising results in clinical trials in which almost a third of those who took the drug recovered more quickly than those given a placebo, although it did not significantly improve survival rates. Experts have warned that it is not a “magic bullet” cure.
In the White House on Friday, Trump was alongside Daniel O’Day, the chief executive of the pharmaceutical company Gilead which is providing 1.5 million vials of the drug, enough to treat around 140,000 patients.
“I’m pleased to announce that Gilead now has an EUA from the FDA for remdesivir. And you know what, that is because that’s been the hot thing also in the papers and in the media for the last little while,” he said, describing it as “an important treatment for hospitalized coronavirus patients.”
Trump went on: “It’s really a very promising situation,” and praised Gilead for “making a contribution to… people that are not doing well, people that are sick, people that have this horrible plague that’s set into our country and that we’re getting rid of.”
“We’re going to be having some really incredible results,” Trump added.
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