SAN ANTONIO — Remdesivir, the antiviral drug recently approved by the FDA as an emergency treatment for some coronavirus patients, is on its way to San Antonio.
In a press release sent out Wednesday morning, the state announced it will send nine cases of the drug to five local hospitals, expanding local healthcare workers' arsenal in treating COVID-19.
While healthcare workers at specific hospitals will decide how to use their supply of remdesivir, its use is currently being limited to coronavirus patients "hospitalized with severe disease, such as those in intensive care," the release states.
"Not only will this drug treat patients throughout the state, but it will especially bolster our mitigation and treatment efforts in communities experiencing surges in COVID-19 cases," Gov. Greg Abbott is quoted as saying in the release.
The nine cases for San Antonio follow the distribution of an initial 30 across Texas earlier this month.
Remdesivir was the first drug shown to be effective in treating those with coronavirus symptoms earlier this year, having shortened the recovery time for hospitalized patients by an average of 31% in a government-sponsored study. Twenty San Antonio patients were part of that trial.
Now, local researchers are working to further test the drug, to see if it could be even more effective in the ongoing COVID-19 dight.
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