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Is remdesivir really effective for coronavirus: Pakistan experts discuss

  • May 19, 2020


Is remdesivir really effective for coronavirus: Pakistan experts discuss

More than a hundred people have died of coronavirus in Pakistan in the last three days. Right now the percentage of active cases per million population in Pakistan is higher than the other regional countries.

The number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan will touch their
peak in June, experts have predicted.

On Tuesday, Samaa TV anchorperson Nadeem Malik spoke to
Ferozsons Laboratories CEO Usman Khalid Waheed about the drugs being used to
treat COVID-19 patients and their efficacy. During the show, the anchorperson
specifically asked about the drug, remdesivir, which has lately attracted the
world’s attention.

Remdesivir is an injectable anti-viral drug, according to
Waheed. It was discovered by a US biotechnology firm, Gilead, in 2014 and tried
during the Ebola epidemic.

The Ferozsons Laboratories CEO says that scientists are
currently conducting clinical trials of remdesivir.

“The US FDA granted it emergency approval on the basis
of a randomised controlled trial on 1,000 patients,” he said on the show.
“The drug had shown results in advanced cases.”

The anchorperson questioned was the drug as effective in
treatment of MERS and SARS viruses as it is expected to be in the case of
coronavirus.

“The data of those epidemics was limited, but since it seemed to show promise…it was thought to have efficacy in the case of coronavirus,” Waheed replied. “It was used in some large-scale trials and it showed some efficacy.”

Asked about their capacity to manufacture it, he said his
company currently has the capacity of 4 to 5 million doses, which would be
increased further.

The Ferozsons Laboratories CEO was then inquired about
Pakistan’s capacity to manufacture chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine.

Multiple companies including ours, have the registration to
manufacture hydroxychloroquine, he replied. There are several brands available
in the market too.

He, however, said that all these drugs are under trial.
“Only remdesivir has shown clinically significant difference in the trials
so far, which is why the world is focused more on it,” he said.

“But let me say that remdesivir is not a silver
bullet,” Waheed said. “This is not a cure, but a drug whose efficacy
is being established to some extent.”

He said rigorous research is being conducted the world over.
The research infrastructure in Pakistan is a bit challenging, but we are still
engaged with foreign firms, he added.

The other panelist on the show was University of Health
Sciences Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Akram.

He said remdesivir is an experimental drug and his
university is currently studying the effect of anti-viral drugs on 9,500
patients.

“If anti-viral drugs’ efficacy is proven against RNA
viruses like COVID-19, then it means that any anti-viral drug could be
effective in its treatment,” Dr Akram said. “However, the efficacy of
anti-viral drugs is yet to be established.”

The final results of the ongoing trials of different drugs
in Pakistan could take up to six months, according to Dr Akram.



Syed Shayan Ahmed

Digital

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Article source: https://www.samaa.tv/living/health/2020/05/is-remdesivir-really-effective-for-coronavirus-pakistan-experts-discuss/

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