India, Oct. 23 -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has gone ahead with the approval of antiviral drug remdesivir as first treatment for COVID-19, notwithstanding last week's findings by the World Health Organization (WHO) that the drug is not effective for COVID-19 treatment.

Thursday, Gilead Sciences announced that the FDA approved remdesivir, sold under the brand name Veklury, for the treatment of patients with coronavirus (COVID-19) requiring hospitalization.

Last week, interim results from the Solidarity Therapeutics Trial, coordinated by the WHO, had revealed that Ebola drug remdesivir appeared to have little or no effect on 28-day mortality or the in-hospital course of COVID-19 among hospitalized patients.

The trial al...