Inhaled Version of Antiviral Drug to Begin Human Testing

Clinical trials on an inhaled type of the antiviral treatment remdesivir will start on patients with COVID-19 beginning in August. Phase 1 trials on healthy volunteers will begin the week of June 22. Made by Gilead Sciences Inc, remdesivir is currently administered intravenously. The switch to a nebulizer version, which eases application, may broaden its reach.

Randomized controlled trials have shown that the drug decreased recovery time among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 by 4 days, and that patients with moderate illness did better after taking remdesivir than those who received different treatments.  Read more here.