Virus Outbreak Treatment

FILE - In this March 2020 photo provided by Gilead Sciences, a vial of the investigational drug remdesivir is visually inspected at a Gilead manufacturing site in the United States. On Wednesday, the company says its experimental antiviral drug has proved effective against the new coronavirus in a major U.S. government study that put it to a strict test. (Gilead Sciences via AP)

 HONS

(WAND) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Gilead Sciences' remdesivir, an antiviral drug, as a treatment for COVID-19. 

Remdesivir was one of the drugs used to treat President Donald Trump after he was diagnosed with the virus. Since the FDA granted an emergency use authorization for it in May, it has helped shorten recovery times for some hospitalized patients. 

With formal approval, remdesivir can now be sure for more COVID-19 patients who require hospitalization. It is the first and only approved COVID-19 treatment in the United States, per CNBC.  

The drug is administered through an IV in an hospital setting. The majority of patients get a five-day treatment course using six vials. Gilead said the drug can't be given to patients in pill form because the chemical makeup would affect the liver, but did say they are working on an inhaled version that can be given through a nebulizer - a device that changes liquid medicines into mist.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading expert on infectious diseases in the United States, said earlier in 2020 remdesivir would set "a new standard of care" for virus patients. 

COVID-19 has infected over 41.3 million people across the globe and killed over 1 million, data compiled by Johns Hopkins University said.Â