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FDA Fully Approves Remdesivir to Treat COVID-19

The FDA gave the green light for use of remdesivir in health-care settings to treat COVID-19. It had previously only been approved for emergency use.

The FDA gave full approval Thursday for health-care providers to administer remdesivir, a drug once used to treat Ebola, in all adult cases of SARS-CoV-2 requiring hospitalization. It’s now the first and only fully approved treatment in the U.S. for COVID-19. Remdesivir, produced by Gilead Sciences under the name Veklury, had previously only been authorized for emergency use by doctors and hospitals for patients with extreme symptoms. The FDA’s website lists it as approved as of October 22, with full prescribing information indicating it for intravenous use in adults and adolescent patients weighing over 40 kgs (88 lbs). President Trump took the drug after he tested positive for the virus earlier this month.