Dr. Marty Makary on remdesivir's ability to block COVID-19
The experimental coronavirus treatment remdesivir has shortened the recovery time for COVID-19 patients, according to data from a new study cited by the U.S. government; insight from Fox News contributor Dr. Marty Makary, Johns Hopkins health policy expert.
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The United States is "neck-and-neck" with China in the race to develop an effective coronavirus vaccine, Johns Hopkins University health policy and management professor Dr. Marty Makary told "Special Report" Wednesday.
"There are 70 vaccines in different stages of development," said Makary, a Fox News contributor. "There are seven that are being given in patients right now. We’re sort of neck-and-neck with China -- we've got three, they've got three."
Makary added that the Chinese vaccines "are actually in further stages [of development]. Their drugs are in phase two or three, and it's a real race ...The country that gets there first will have a significant advantage because they will control the supply for the rest of the world and the risk is if we aren't there first, we could get locked out."
The professor concluded that the search for a vaccine was "moving along," but added that "it will probably take a year" before such a treatment becomes widely available.
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Earlier Wednesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious-disease expert and a member of President Trump's coronavirus task force, touted the drug remdesivir for its "clear-cut significant positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery,” as reflected in new data.
Makary said that while the National Institutes of Health study shows only a 31 percent reduction rate in recovery time, it could prove to be significant.
"One thing to remember," Makary cautioned about remdesivir, "it's not a silver bullet. "It reduces the severity and probably increases recovery but also, this is an IV medication, it's not something you can go to the pharmacy tonight and pick up."
In the U.S., remdesivir is still awaiting regulatory approval as a coronavirus treatment, but Makary said it is likely to receive emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration "as early as this evening."
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