Japanese approval for Gilead’s remdesivir

Less than a week after FDA granted Emergency Use Authorization to Gilead’s COVID-19 therapy remdesivir, Japan approved the antiviral as Veklury. Separately, a global plasma coalition sealed a deal with NIH, and three Chinese biotechs partnered to develop an antibody therapeutic.

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare approved Veklury remdesivir to treat COVID-19 via an exceptional approval pathway due to the pandemic. The approval references the antiviral’s EUA, which FDA granted on May 1 in certain COVID-19 patients with severe disease...