Abstract
Remdesivir has appeared to be the most effective medication against the
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection
and is broadly administered to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
patients around the world. Remdesivir is an RNA polymerase inhibitor
with a broad spectrum of antiviral activities against RNA viruses in
in-vitro and in-vivo models of SARS-CoV, the Middle East respiratory
syndrome (MERS), and SARS-CoV-2. Remdesivir is the first Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) approved anti-SARS-CoV-2 treatment for adult and
pediatric patients and has been used intravenously for patients
requiring hospitalization for COVID-19. However, questions have been
raised about the value of remdesivir in treating COVID-19, and governing
bodies worldwide have been hesitant to approve this medication.
Nevertheless, in the context of the public health emergency and the
urgent need for effective treatments for patients with COVID-19,
remdesivir has been approved by several authorities worldwide. Here, we
discuss characteristics and applications of remdesivir, and various
challenging studies with different outcomes about its efficacy are also
reviewed.