Gilead to make remdesivir available to Covid-19 patients “as quickly as possible,

Gilead Sciences said Wednesday preliminary results of a coronavirus drug trial showed at least 50% of patients treated with a five-day dosage of remdesivir improved and more than half were discharged from the hospital within two weeks.

The company also said another trial by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases met its main goal. It did not provide further details, however. 

Later Wednesday, White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said NIAID’s remdesivir drug trial, which enrolled about 800 patients, showed “quite good news” and that the drug would set a new standard of care for Covid-19 patients. Speaking to reporters from the White House, Fauci said he was told data from the trial showed a “clear-cut positive effect in diminishing time to recover.”

The Food and Drug Administration, in the meantime, has been in “sustained and ongoing” discussions with Gilead to make remdesivir available to Covid-19 patients “as quickly as possible, as appropriate,” said FDA senior advisor Michael Felberbaum.

Shares of Gilead were up by more than 6% in midday trading.

Gilead’s smaller clinical trial involved 397 patients with severe cases of Covid-19. The severe study is “single-arm,” meaning it did not evaluate the antiviral drug against a control group of patients who didn’t receive the drug.