Anti-viral drug’s important next step

Drugmaker Gilead Sciences says it’s starting a new trial using an inhaled version of the antiviral drug remdesivir, which is currently administered through intravenous infusion.

Remdesivir is the only drug that has emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration to treat coronavirus infections. The company said it received the green light from the FDA to move forward and is beginning Phase 1 trials this week -- testing the new formulation of the drug in healthy people, before starting studies in patients with Covid-19 in August.

"If the trials are successful, this could represent important progress. Remdesivir, our investigational antiviral medicine, is currently given to patients intravenously through daily infusions in the hospital," said Daniel O'Day, Gilead Sciences chairman and CEO. "An inhaled formulation would be given through a nebulizer, which could potentially allow for easier administration outside the hospital, at earlier stages of disease. That could have significant implications in helping to stem the tide of the pandemic."