Gilead to test a version of remdesivir that can be inhaled

American biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences will soon start trials of an inhalable version of remdesivir, an antiviral drug that has shown promise as a therapeutic against the coronavirus in early trials, according to a statement released Monday.

Remdesivir is currently given intravenously, which restricts its use to hospital settings. “That’s been the limitation” with this drug, said Dr. Mangala Narasimhan, a pulmonologist and regional director of critical care medicine at Northwell Health.

Gilead’s inhalable version of the treatment would be administered through a nebulizer, a device that sends a mist of therapeutic liquid into the airway and is often used by asthma patients. Some nebulizers are portable; Gilead scientists hope that a more convenient treatment would be used by patients at various stages of infection.

Nebulizers “are commonly available” compared with IV equipment, said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University. “Pretty much every outpatient urgent care clinic has them. You could potentially treat somebody on the spot who has a positive test” for the coronavirus “but may or may not have symptoms.”

Remdesivir, which interferes with virus replication, is the first antiviral drug to show effectiveness against the coronavirus in human trials. It was given Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on May 1, allowing physicians to deploy the drug intravenously in hospitalized patients with confirmed diagnoses of COVID-19, the disease caused