EMA
During a virtual meeting held on 2nd April 2020, EMA’s human medicines committee (CHMP) gave recommendations on how to use the investigational antiviral medicine, Remdesivir for treating coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in compassionate use programmes in the European Union. Remdesivir has been shown to be active against SARS-CoV-2 and other types of coronavirus (i.e. SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV) in laboratory studies; however, there is currently only limited data on the use of Remdesivir in patients with COVID‑19.
*Remdesivir is an antiviral medicine that is being investigated for the treatment of COVID-19. It is a ‘viral RNA polymerase inhibitor’ (a medicine that interferes with the production of viral genetic material, preventing the virus from multiplying). It has shown broad in vitro activity against different RNA viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 and was originally developed for the treatment of Ebola virus disease.
Remdesivir is being developed by Gilead Sciences Ireland CU (a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes innovative therapeutics in areas of unmet medical need. The company’s mission is to advance the care of patients suffering from life-threatening diseases worldwide) and is given by infusion (drip) into a vein.
Other options that the EMA is looking into are
- lopinavir/ritonavir (currently authorized as an anti-HIV medicine)
- chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine (currently authorized at the national level as treatments against malaria and certain autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis)
The agency is in discussions with developers of potential COVID-19 vaccines, two of which have already entered Phase I clinical trials.
