Remdesivir close to EU\'s initial authorisation as Covid-19 treatment

Remdesivir close to EU's initial authorisation as Covid-19 treatment

The head of the European Union's medicines agency Guido Rasi said on Monday an initial authorisation for US pharmaceutical company Gilead's remdesivir as a Covid-19 treatment could be granted in coming days.

Brussels
May 18, 2020
UPDATED: May 18, 2020 16:04 IST
An ampule of Ebola drug Remdesivir is pictured during a news conference at the University Hospital Eppendorf (UKE) in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo: Reuetrs)

The head of the European Union's medicines agency Guido Rasi said on Monday an initial authorisation for US pharmaceutical company Gilead's remdesivir as a Covid-19 treatment could be granted in coming days.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has already recommended the compassionate use of remdesivir, which allows a drug to be administered to patients even before it has been fully authorised.

"It might be that a conditional market authorisation can be issued in the coming days," Rasi told a hearing in the EU Parliament in Brussels.

Apart from remdesivir, Rasi said other possible treatments against Covid-19 that may be available fast are those based on monoclonal antibodies, which can "neutralize" the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes the illness Covid-19.

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Posted byNayanika Sengupta