First Australian patients with coronavirus to get remdesivir
Two hospitals, including Dr James McMahon's The Alfred, have so far been approved to use the antiviral hailed in the US as the likely standard of care
Critically ill patients with COVID-19 in Sydney and Melbourne will be among the first Australians to be treated with the experimental antiviral remdesivir.
Manufacturer Gilead Sciences Australia says two hospitals have been given special access to its drug as part of a global program.
St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney and the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne have been listed as “study sites” that will be able to offer remdesivir, a “promising” but so-far unapproved drug, to severely ill patients with COVID-19, although it is not a formal trial.
Infectious diseases physician Dr James McMahon, head of clinical research at The Alfred, said that only the “most unwell” patients at the hospital would receive the drug.
