South Korea has approved the emergency use of Remdesivir to treat COVID-19 after a government panel last week cited positive results for the anti-viral drug in other countries.
Gilead Sciences Inc's Remdesivir, which is administered intravenously, is the first drug to show improvement in COVID-19 patients in formal clinical trials.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Tuesday announced the drug would be brought in under a special medicine importation authorization arranged to cope with public health crises.
Trials in the U.S. have shown that remdesivir can shorten the recovery period in some coronavirus patients from around 15 days to eleven days, while also reducing the fatality rate from about 12 to seven percent.
Patients must undergo a liver function test before taking the drug as possible side effects include elevated levels of liver enzymes.
South Korea has so far reported 11,590 coronavirus cases with 273 deaths till now.
India and European authorities are also looking at remdesivir, with South Korean health authorities last Friday saying they would request imports of the drug. Gilead is yet to gain regulatory approval in either market.
