REMDESIVIR

Mississippi hospital dismisses physician after he sought to administer anti-parasite drug to three people with COVID-19.

The antiviral drug is the first covid-19 treatment to receive full FDA approval. It was also administered to former president Donald Trump in 2020.

Molnupiravir, an antiviral pill being developed by Merck & Co., has been touted as a potential game changer in the fight against Covid-19. The experimental medication was shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by about half in a late-stage study of adults with mild-to-moderate cases. The promise of a drug that patients can easily get and take at home has prompted some governments to order supplies even before regulators have decided whether to approve its use.

The Feb. 2020 purchase, disclosed Wednesday, is at odds with the 45-day deadline set forth in a federal law designed to combat insider trading.

The World Health Organization said India accounted for half of all cases reported globally last week as well as 30% of global deaths.

The death toll rose by 3,780 over past 24 hours.

There were 1,225 new confirmed COVID-19 cases increasing the state total to 60,873. ___WASHINGTON -- Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech will seek emergency government approval for their coronavirus vaccine, as the U.S. aims to begin administering doses by the end of the year. ___LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — Kentucky reported a new daily record of 3,649 coronavirus cases Thursday amid warnings by Gov. He and public health experts are warily watching the number of patients hospitalized with the COVID-19 disease caused by the coronavirus. ___WASHINGTON — Infection disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says he “wants to settle” concerns about a coronavirus vaccine as he returns to the White House podium for the first time in months.

A study coordinated by the World Health Organization has indicated that remdesivir, along with three other potential drug treatments for the coronavirus, has "little or no effect" on death rates among hospitalized patients. The interim results from the WHO's Solidarity Therapeutics Trial, said to be the world's largest randomized control trial of coronavirus treatments, were published Thursday. The results indicated that the remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon drug treatment regimens "appeared to have little or no effect on 28-day mortality or the in-hospital course of COVID-19 among hospitalized patients." "No study drug definitely reduced mortality (in unventilated patients or any other subgroup of entry characteristics), initiation of ventilation or hospitalisation duration," the authors of the study wrote. The WHO's findings come a week after drugmaker Gilead Sciences published the final data on its own large-scale trial of remdesivir.

We can’t take another hit.”___MIAMI - Florida has reported a slight uptick in daily confirmed COVID-19 cases, adding 3,449 to its total caseload on Friday. There were 3,861 new coronavirus cases reported in Wisconsin on Friday, breaking the previous record set just a day earlier of 3,747. The report, released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, looks at coronavirus-associated deaths reported between May 1 and August 31. The deaths reported Friday include 10 women and eight men, all in their 60s or older. With 222 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, Spain’s total has reached 33,775.

Indias total coronavirus positive cases near 7 million with another 73,272 infections reported in the past 24 hours. The Health Ministry on Saturday put the total positive caseload at 6.97 million, second to 7.66 million infections registered in the worst-hit United States. (AP Photo/Yirmiyan Arthur)NEW DELHI – India’s confirmed coronavirus cases are nearing 7 million with another 73,272 reported in the past 24 hours. India is seeing a slower pace of coronavirus spread since mid-September, when the daily infections touched a record of 97,894 cases. “We have to work aggressively to make sure that during winter months and during the festive season coronavirus cases don’t rise dramatically,” said Dr. Randeep Guleria, a government health expert.

“He’s getting the Cadillac of treatment at this point, very early and very aggressive,” said Dr. Luis Ostrosky, an infectious disease specialist at UTHealth. Ostrosky said the president is being treated with Remdesivir and an antibody cocktail made by Regeneron. He’s also getting Remdesivir, which is the antiviral that we know has some effect against the virus at this point," he said. Trump posted a video on Twitter Saturday from Walter Reed Medical Center addressing his health and the treatments he’s received. According to experts and doctors, the next 48 to 72 hours are crucial to the president’s recovery.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted authorization to Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD.O) for emergency use of its experimental antiviral drug remdesivir to treat patients with COVID-19, the agency and President Donald Trump said on Friday. FILE PHOTO: Vials of investigational coronavirus disease (COVID-19) treatment drug remdesivir are capped at a Gilead Sciences facility in La Verne, California, U.S. March 18, 2020. We want to make sure nothing gets in the way of these patients getting the medicine, so we made a decision to donate about 1.5 million vials, he said. Gilead has defended prospects for remdesivir in helping fight the coronavirus pandemic against signs that it may not provide a significant benefit. Vice President Mike Pence said the 1.5 million vials would start being distributed to hospitals on Monday.

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Wednesday grew more optimistic about America's ability to safely resume business activity after hearing welcoming news about an antiviral's potential to fight coronavirus from Gilead Sciences. Preliminary results of a clinical trial studying the effects of remdesivir on Covid-19 returned positive data in helping patients recover from the contagion. "Remdesivir is just what the doctor ordered," Cramer said. The U.S. government has taken drastic measures to slow the spread of the deadly virus to prevent medical centers from becoming overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients. "That's why the market roared higher today, and make no mistake, this move was all about remdesivir," Cramer said of Wednesday's rally.

A new report from STAT News on Gilead's experimental drug Remdesivir serves as an encouraging update on the drug's potential to fight Covid-19, however analysts argue it's largely anecdotal and should be interpreted with caution. Remdesivir was one of the first medicines identified as a contender to treat Covid-19 given it showed promise in the past in treating SARS and MERS, both caused by coronaviruses. A statement from the University of Chicago Medicine said that "drawing any conclusions at this point is premature and scientifically unsound." The report from the Chicago hospital comes amid mounting anecdotal evidence supporting the drug's potential effectiveness in treating the virus. As CNBC's Meg Tirrell has highlighted, this is not controlled clinical trial data it is a glimpse into what one of the sites that is running the trial is seeing.

Gilead Sciences shares popped by more than 8% on Friday after details leaked of a closely watched clinical trial of the company's antiviral drug Remdesivir, showing what appears to be promising results in treating Covid-19. The University of Chicago's phase 3 drug trial found that most of its patients had "rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms" and were discharged in less than a week, health-care publication STAT News reported Thursday. "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. Gilead shares jumped as much as 16% in after-hours trading Thursday immediately after the report published.

World Health Organization officials are holding a press conference to update the public on the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected more than 737,000 people across the globe, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. However, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at press conference Friday that a vaccine is likely 12 to 18 months away. Biotech company Moderna began the first human trial testing for a potential vaccine to prevent COVID-19 last week. There are no proven therapies for the coronavirus, which has killed at least 35,000 people across the globe. Read CNBC's live updates to see the latest news on the COVID-19 outbreak.

Here are 15 positive updates amid grim reports regarding COVID-19A health professional with the Matagorda Medical Group checks the temperature of a woman entering the Matagorda County Court House on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Bay City, Texas. More than 120,000+ have now recovered from coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins Resource Centers tracker. 3) Existing antiviral drugs could significantly help coronavirus patientsThe experimental antiviral drug, Remdesivir is a promising candidate to treat coronavirus. According to Science magazine, South Korea has seen a general decline in new coronavirus cases since March 11. The reported #covid19 cases went from a surge in February of 15,000 in one day to only 15 this week.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday called on U.S. health regulators to expedite potential therapies aimed at treating COVID-19 amid the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak, saying it could lead to a breakthrough while a vaccine is still under development. Trials on potential coronavirus therapies are already in the works, and it was unclear how Trumps call for faster experimental testing process could further expedite an effective treatment. It could be a game changer or maybe not, Trump told reporters. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said his agency was working quickly to examine all possibilities. In the short term, were looking at drugs that are already approved for other indications, Hahn said.