The China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing will start clinical trial on 270 mildly and moderately ill patients infected with the novel coronavirus by using trial drug from the United States who claimed to have successfully treated a case in the US.
According to the report published online by chinadaily that medical worker gives a patient medical treatment in the ICU (intensive care unit) at Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in Wuhan, Central China’s Hubei province, Jan 24, 2020.
Hospital administration said in statement that The Phase III clinical trial will run from Feb 3 to April 27 under the supervision of doctor Cao Bin from the Beijing hospital. This trial will be carried out in Wuhan, Hubei province, epicenter of the outbreak.
According to a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine that the drug in trial is called remdesivir manufactured by US biotech company Gilead Sciences. The medicine was given to the 35 year old man for the first time who tested positive for the virus in US and pneumonia symptoms appeared to improve within a day with no obvious side effects after the drug was administered.
The drug manufacturer said in statement that drug is “not yet licensed or approved anywhere globally and has not been demonstrated to be safe or effective for any use”.
The drug manufacturer added that However, the drug for coronavirus was approved for use on compassionate grounds and the request of physicians.
At the same time, the company said it is working with health authorities in China to establish a clinical trial to determine whether remdesivir can safely and effectively be used to treat the coronavirus.
According to its official the Center for Drug Evaluation of the National Medical Products Administration in China has received and approved the application to carry out the experiment.