A Gilead Sciences office is shown in Foster City, California, U.S. May 1, 2018.
Stephen Lam | Reuters
Gilead Sciences shares surged by more than 11% in after-hours trading Thursday after an industry publication said Covid-19 patients being treated with the company’s antiviral drug Remdesivir appear to have “rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms.”
STAT News said a doctor in Chicago overseeing a closely watched clinical trial on the drug found that most of its patients had been discharged in less than a week.
“The best news is that most of our patients have already been discharged, which is great. We’ve only had two patients perish,” University of Chicago infectious disease specialist Kathleen Mullane said, according to STAT News, which obtained a video of her remarks.
There are no proven therapies to treat Covid-19, which has infected more than 2 million worldwide as of Thursday night, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. President Donald Trump has touted Remdesivir and malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as “very exciting” even though the drugs haven’t yet been proven as effective treatments against the coronavirus.
The drug has shown some promise against SARS and MERS, which are also caused by coronaviruses. Some health authorities in the U.S., China and other parts of the world have been using Remdesivir, which was tested as a possible treatment for the Ebola outbreak, in hopes that the drug can reduce the duration of the virus in patients. Clinical trial results involving patients with severe cases of the virus were expected this month.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.