BRIEF—Japan soon set to approve remdesivir for COVID-19, says domestic news service

Despite recent setbacks in Chinese clinical trials, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday, during a parliamentary session, that Japan will soon approve the anti-viral drug remdesivir for the treatment of coronavirus patients, in what will be the country's first such decision amid the pandemic, reported the local Kyoda News.

A government official said separately that the drug, under investigation by Gilead Sciences, will be approved as early as next month to treat patients with COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, as moves to develop therapeutic drugs and vaccines have been accelerating around the globe.

Once an application by Gilead Sciences is made, the Japanese government is set to fast-track its approval. This streamlining of the process -- which involves postponing reports on domestic clinical tests to a later date -- is available on condition that the drug has been approved in another country, the news wire noted.

Remdesivir has not yet been approved for COVID-19 by any regulatory authority, but a spokesperson from the Japan unit of Gilead Sciences said: "We are currently conducting clinical tests and are focused on confirming the drug's efficacy and safety," reported Kyoda News.