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

18 May 2020 - 10:46 By Reuters
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Guido Rasi, executive director the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Guido Rasi, executive director the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Image: REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly

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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