Remdesivir is currently Mexico’s best hope for treating COVID-19

“We are looking forward to the use of Remdesivir with great expectations”, declared the Undersecretary of Health, Hugo López-Gatell.

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.

Regarding the use of Remdesivir antiviral in Mexico, there are great expectations as the drug has been approved by Japan in the treatment of covid-19 patients. And so, Hugo López-Gatell, undersecretary of Health, has described as promising a clinical trial conducted in the United States on the drug, an experiment in which Mexico participated.

However, López-Gatell noted that the antiviral showed a reduction in the disease in moderate and mild cases, not in severe ones.

“We see this product with great expectations,” said López-Gatell at a press conference.