코로나19 치료제 ‘렘데시비르’ 오늘부터 국내 공급…“중증환자로 투약 제한”<br /><br />Remdesivir will from now on be used to treat COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms here in South Korea.<br />Developed in the U.S., remdesivir was originally used to treat Ebola,... but was found to shorten recovery from the coronavirus by 31 percent.<br />Lee Kyung-eun tells us more.<br />From Wednesday, South Korea began treating severe COVID-19 patients with remdesivir.<br />The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed a deal last month with the U.S.-based pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences under which it will get the drug free of charge for a month.<br />That was after remdesivir was approved for import by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety based on an emergency request from the KCDC.<br />"The Central Clinical Commission has agreed on the safety and effectiveness of the drug and suggested that it be imported given that there is no other anti-viral medication available at the moment."<br />If a hospital wants to use remdesivir, it will have to make a request to the National Medical Center, which will decide on a case-by-case basis whether a patient should get it after consulting with the Central Clinical Commission.<br />The KCDC says the criteria are that a patient has been diagnosed with pneumonia by X-ray or CT, is on oxygen treatment, has an oxygen saturation rate below 94 percent, and whose symptoms appeared within 10 days.<br />It recommends the drug be administered for five days.<br />That can be extended for another five days if necessary, but the total duration should not exceed 10 days.<br />Details have not yet been disclosed regarding the amount to be imported or the price.<br />But the KCDC says it will start negotations next month when the initial free supply ends.<br />Remdesivir, originally an experimental drug to treat Ebola, was found in a U.S. government study to shorten COVID-19 recovery times by 31 percent and so far, it's the only drug authorized by federal regulators to treat the disease.<br />Lee Kyung-eun, Arirang News.<br />
