Remdesevir is the new drug authorized by FDA for Emergency use to treat COVID-19

The FDA has granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) for remdesivir to treat hospitalized adults and children with suspected or laboratory-confirmed SARS CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 disease
EUA facilitates broader use of remdesivir, enabling access at additional hospitals across the country
Severe COVID-19 disease is defined as patients with an oxygen saturation (SpO2) ≤94% on room air or requiring supplemental oxygen or requiring mechanical ventilation or requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)
An experimental drug — and one of the world’s best hopes for treating COVID-19 — could shorten the time to recovery from coronavirus infection, according to the largest and most rigorous clinical trial of the compound yet.

The drug, called remdesivir, interferes with the replication of some viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, which is responsible for the current pandemic. On 29 April, Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), announced that a clinical trial in more than 1,000 people had showed that those taking remdesivir recovered in 11 days on average, compared with 15 days for those on a placebo.

“Although a 31% improvement doesn’t seem like a knockout 100%, it is a very important proof of concept,” Fauci said. “What it has proven is that a drug can block this virus.”

However, although remdesivir may aid recovery - and possibly stop people having to be treated in intensive care - the trials did not give any clear indication whether it can prevent deaths from coronavirus.

It is thought that anti-virals may be more effective in the early stages, and immune drugs later in the disease.

It is one of the four drugs in the WHO Solidarity trial and its manufacturer, Gilead, is also organising trials.

"These data are promising, and given that we have no proven treatments yet for Covid, it may well lead to fast-track approval of remdesivir for treatment of Covid," said Prof Babak Javid, a consultant in infectious diseases at Cambridge University Hospitals.

"However, it also shows that remdesivir is not a magic bullet in this context: the overall benefit in survival was 30%."

Other drugs being investigated for Covid-19 include those for malaria and HIV which can attack the virus as well as compounds that can calm the immune system.

It is thought the anti-virals may be more effective in the early stages, and the immune drugs later in the disease.

China have published their report about the drug on lancet journal terming the drug as ineffective and the drug has more side effects than the benefits. However the united states are proving that the drug might be of immense benefit to the severely ill patients.

It may be light at the end of the tunnel for the world at large after months of being "eaten" by novel corona virus.

A new dawn may rise to light the candles of the affected especially those in hospital beds.

However lets hope for the best as we pray for the researchers and the world at large to recover from this deadly pandemic.