FDA grants full approval to Gilead Sciences's Veklury for Covid-19
By Alexander Bueso
Date: Friday 23 Oct 2020
(Sharecast News) - Gilead Sciences's antiviral Veklury, better known as Remdesivir, was given the stamp of the approval by the country's health watchdog overnight for use as a treatment against Covid-19.
The US-based biotechnology firm's drug had already obtained so-called Emergency Use Authorisation from the Food and Drug Administration in May.
But now it had full approval, turning it into the first company to obtain that designation for one of its treatments against the novel coronavirus, meaning that it was deemed safe and effective for use for the public.
Multiple clinical trials had demonstrated that Veklury could shorten the recovery times from the illness and reduce the severity of Covid-19 among severely-ill patients, those which require supplemental oxygen.
The FDA's authorisation overnight included use in patients below the age of 11 who had been hospitalised.
As of 1124 BST, shares of Gilead were 5.74% higher to $64.15.
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