UPMC Presbyterian Gets Coronavirus Treatment Drug Remdesivir

PITTSBURGH, PA — UPMC Presbyterian was among 51 Pennsylvania hospitalsthat have received
first shipment of Remdesivir doses to treat patients with COVID-19, the state Department of Health announced Tuesday.

Remdesivir, an investigational antiviral medication, has received an "Emergency Use Authorization" from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to help those hospitalized during the coronavirus pandemic.

Pennsylvania, with nearly 58,000 cases of coronavirus, is among a handful of states to receive the medication from the federal government. Others include Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, and Michigan. The medication is given via IV once per day for up to 10 days and may help decrease the amount of coronavirus in your body, enabling a shorter recovery time, officials said.

The National Institutes of Health and manufacturer Gilead Sciences recently conducted a randomized controlled clinical trial of the investigational drug in hospitalized patients.

Preliminary results suggested the medication enabled a faster recovery, "although the data
was not sufficient to determine if the drug was associated with lower mortality," the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a news release.

"We now have solid data showing that Remdesivir diminishes to a modest degree the time to recovery for people hospitalized with COVID-19," Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, said in a statement.

The federal government delivered the first shipment of 1,200 doses of Remdesivir to Pennsylvania on Tuesday.

Federal health officials said Gilead has committed to supplying more than 600,000 vials of the experimental drug over the next six weeks to treat an estimated 78,000 patients.

Patch staff writer Kara Seymour contributed.