South Korea allows use of Gilead's remdesivir to treat Covid-19 patients

The South Korean government's fast-track import approval on Wednesday came after health authorities concluded that the drug could possibly help patients recover faster

South Korea's Food and Drug Safety Ministry has allowed the use of Gilead Sciences' antiviral drug remdesivir in treatment of Covid-19 patients.

The ministry's fast-track import approval on Wednesday came after health authorities concluded that the drug could possibly help patients recover faster.

Officials plan to soon hold discussions with Gilead to arrange the drug shipments.

The US food and drug regulatory body has allowed emergency use of an investigational anti-viral vaccine to treat Covid-19 patients after some researches, including one led by an Indian-American physician, found that the drug helped recover some of the infected cases faster.

Remdesivir is the first drug to show improvement in Covid-19 patients in formal clinical trials, and is being closely watched around the world, as nations battle the pandemic.

Gilead Sciences Inc had earlier reported that remdesivir provided a modest benefit in patients with moderate Covid-19 given a five-day course of the treatment, while those who received the medicine for 10 days in the study did not fare as well.

The late stage study of nearly 600 patients evaluated the safety and efficacy of 5- and 10-day treatment with remdesivir in addition to standard care for those with moderate Covid-19 - the disease caused by the new coronavirus - compared with standard care alone.

At day 11, around 76 per cent of the patients in the 5-day treatment group showed improvement in clinical status versus 66 per cent for standard care alone, Gilead said.