How effective is the new drug Remedisivir on corona virus?

Remdesivir doesn’t cure coronavirus. But the experimental drug, which may speed up recovery from a COVID-19 infection, is currently the best treatment we have against a virus that’s on a global rampage.

Late last week, the FDA authorized emergency use of the antiviral drug. The move came on the heels of preliminary results from a clinical trial that found patients treated with remdesivir had a 31 percent faster recovery than those who received a placebo. Average recovery was shortened to 11 days from 15 days, and the drug also slightly decreased the likelihood of dying from COVID-19.

“Although a 31 percent improvement doesn’t seem like a knockout 100 percent, it is a very important proof of concept because what it has proven is that a drug can block this virus,” Anthony Fauci told reporters at a White House meeting announcing the findings. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also likened the finding to discovering the first modestly effective antiviral treatment for HIV decades ago.