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A California biotech company says its experimental drug remdesivir improved symptoms when given for five days to moderately ill, hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Gilead Sciences gave few details on Monday but said full results would soon be published in a medical journal. Remdesivir is the only treatment that’s been shown in a rigorous experiment to help fight the coronavirus. (Marchione, 6/1)

Remdesivir, which is administered intravenously in hospital, is the first drug to show improvement in COVID-19 patients in formal clinical trials, and new information about its efficacy is being closely watched around the world, as nations battle the pandemic. The late stage study of nearly 600 patients evaluated the safety and efficacy of 5- and 10-day treatment with remdesivir in addition to standard care for those with moderate COVID-19 - the disease caused by the new coronavirus - compared with standard care alone. (Erman and Beasley, 6/1)

Remdesivir, the drug developed as a treatment for Covid-19 by Gilead Sciences, helped patients with “moderate” disease recover more quickly when they received it for five days, but the benefit was not statistically significant when given for 10 days, the company said Monday. The new data, from a study conducted by the company, add to the evidence that the medicine is at least somewhat effective treatment for Covid-19. But they will also likely add to the debate of exactly how effective the remdesivir is, and in what patients. (Herper, 6/1)

The trial included 600 randomized patients who were equally divided into groups given a five-day treatment, 10-day treatment or just standard care, the release says. The patients were hospitalized with confirmed cases of the virus and “evidence of pneumonia without reduced oxygen levels.” Monday’s release represents initial results of the trial and an expansion phase will include up to 1,000 more moderately sick patients., Gilead said. Those results are expected in the next few months. (Aldridge, 6/1)