FDA approves use of antiviral drug remdesivir as an outpatient therapy for people with covid-19
The move gives doctors and high-risk patients an additional option for treating mild-to-moderate illness caused by the coronavirus
By Laurie McGinley
January 21, 2022 at 7:20 p.m. EST
Federal regulators Friday approved the use of the antiviral drug remdesivir for covid-19 outpatients at high risk of being hospitalized, providing a new treatment option for doctors struggling with shortages of effective drugs to counter the coronavirus.
The Food and Drug Administration said the intravenous treatment, which had been limited to patients in the hospital, could be administered to outpatients with mild-to-moderate illness.
Remdesivir, manufactured by Gilead Sciences, was among the first coronavirus treatments authorized in 2020. The drug received full agency approval later that year for people 12 and older. Treatment of younger children is permitted under an emergency use authorization, but Friday’s expansion to outpatients includes both age groups.
The FDA action was welcomed by physicians scrambling to keep covid patients out of the hospital as waves of infections crowd medical facilities. Among the hurdles for doctors: Two of the three authorized monoclonal antibody treatments are ineffective against omicron; there are shortages of the one antibody drug that still works; and demand for recently cleared antiviral pills sharply exceeds supply.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/01/21/remdesivir-covid-outpatient-drug/
