Remdesivir as an Investigational Drug for Coronavirus Disease 2019

Remdisivir is a novel antiviral drug in the class of nucleotide analogs. This drug is an adenosine analogue which incorporates into nascent viral RNA chains. It causes their pre-mature termination.
Over the course of the past week, researchers has been working in consultation with regulatory authorities. It is to establish additional expanded access programs for Remdisivir. They enable hospitals to apply for emergency use for multiple severely ill patients at a time. The drug is still under investigation and has not been approved by regulatory authorities. The safety and efficacy are not yet fully known so while we feel the greatest sense of urgency, we must take the responsible and ethical approach. It is to determine that Remdisivir is indeed safe and effective treatment. This is why multiple clinical trials for the drug are underway that involves thousands of patients with COVID-19 across the world.
As soon as there are results that Remdisivir is an effective and safe drug, medical authorities will begin to establish a supply chain for large-scale production.

How does Remdisivir work?
This drug has been recently recognized as a promising antiviral drug against a wide array of RNA viruses models. It is on a clinical development for the treatment of Ebola virus infection. Remdisivir is an adenosine analogue that incorporates nascent viral RNA chains and reasons to a pre-mature termination. It has been showed that Remdisivir functioned at a stage post virus entry. It is in agreement with its putative antiviral mechanism as a nucleotide analogue.
The findings reveal that Remdisivir have a high potential in the control f COVID-19. Since the compounds have been used with a safety track record and shown to be effective against various illness.

What is COVID-19?
This is a disease first identified in Wuhan, China (December 2019). COVID-19 stands for Coronavirus Disease 2019. It has already spread to other countries, almost worldwide. A coronavirus is a virus found in animals and rarely can be transmitted from animals to humans. The symptoms range from mild to severe. It takes 2-14 days after exposure for symptoms to develop. Symptoms may include:
⦁ Shortness of breath
⦁ Cough
⦁ Fever
Those with weakened immune systems may develop more serious symptoms. After being exposed to COVID-19, you may never develop symptoms . Some children have been infected but most confirmed cases are in adults.
The coronavirus disease can be spread by contact with certain bodily fluids like droplets in a cough. It can also be by touching something by an infected person and then touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. For this to avoid, practice social distancing. Avoid people who are sick or meeting in large groups. Wash your hands frequently with water and soap for at least 20 seconds especially after coughing or sneezing, before eating, or after going to the bathroom. If water and soap are not available, you may use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.