Covid-19 roundup: FDA green­lights Gilead­'s Vek­lury for out­pa­tient use; WHO head warns world is primed for more vari­ants

The FDA has added to the la­bel of Gilead’s Vek­lury — pre­vi­ous­ly ap­proved on­ly for hos­pi­tal­ized pa­tients above the age of 12 — to cov­er non-hos­pi­tal­ized adults, while al­so ex­pand­ing the pe­di­atric emer­gency use au­tho­riza­tion so that chil­dren younger than 12 with mild-to-mod­er­ate Covid-19 can be pre­scribed the drug.

“On the heels of the FDA’s re­cent au­tho­riza­tion of two oral an­tivi­ral drugs, to­day’s ac­tions bol­ster the ar­se­nal of ther­a­peu­tics to treat COVID-19 and re­spond to the surge of the omi­cron vari­ant,” said Pa­trizia Cavaz­zoni, di­rec­tor of the FDA’s Cen­ter for Drug Eval­u­a­tion and Re­search.

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