US FDA moving with 'lightning speed' on Gilead's COVID-19 drug: Report

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The US Food and Drug Administration is working at "lightning speed" to review data on Gilead Sciences Inc's experimental antiviral drug remdesivir in treating COVID-19 disease, the head of the agency told Bloomberg in an interview.

"We're working with the company to emphasize the necessity of speed while at the same time to understand the data," FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said.

Meanwhile, the FDA in an email statement to Reuters, reiterated it was in talks with Gilead about making the drug available to patients as quickly as possible.

Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease official, had said on Wednesday remdesivir will become the standard of care for COVID-19 after early clinical trial results showed it helped patients recover more quickly from the illness caused by the coronavirus.

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