South Korea seeks to import anti-viral remdesivir as new coronavirus cases emerge

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean health authorities said on Friday they would request imports of Gilead Sciences Inc’s anti-viral drug remdesivir to treat COVID-19, as new outbreaks of the disease flare as social distancing restrictions are eased.

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FILE PHOTO: A delivery man for Coupang Jung Im-hong wearing a mask to prevent contracting the coronavirus, checks an address as he works in Incheon, South Korea, March 3, 2020. Picture taken on March 3, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety must approve the import but a government panel concluded remdesivir showed positive results, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) Director Jeong Eun-kyeong said.

Foster City, California-based Gilead has said the drug has improved outcomes for people suffering from the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus and has provided data suggesting it works better when given in the early stages of infection.

Preliminary results from a trial led by the U.S. Institutes of Health showed remdesivir cut hospital stays by 31% compared with a placebo treatment, although it did not significantly improve survival.

Remdesivir, which failed as a treatment for Ebola, is designed to stop some viruses making copies of themselves inside infected cells.

After mounting a campaign of tracing and testing to blunt an initial wave of coronavirus infections in February and March, South Korea has seen smaller but persistent outbreaks as it has lifted some social distancing restrictions in recent weeks.

The latest spike in cases has been linked to a logistics facility near Seoul operated by e-commerce giant Coupang.

The company is under scrutiny after health officials said some basic safety measures were not followed as workers rushed to fulfil a huge increase in orders driven by more online shopping.

As of midnight on Thursday, the KCDC reported 58 new cases, bringing the country’s total to 11,402, with 269 deaths.

Nearly 90 percent of new cases this week have been clustered in Seoul and surrounding areas, raising concern that the densely populated capital could see a wider outbreak.

Those concerns prompted officials to close most government-run facilities like museums and galleries.

Education authorities, meanwhile, said they would press on with a phased reopening of schools, but limited the number of children allowed in some. Hundreds of schools across the country have been closed again as new cases spring up.