Hundreds of Virus Patients Allowed to Try Gilead’s Ebola Drug

Hundreds of coronavirus patients have been treated with Gilead’s experimental Ebola treatment under an FDA program to allow access to unapproved drugs.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. expects to know by April whether a clinical trial in China testing the antiviral drug remdesivir can effectively treat patients infected with the virus that causes Covid-19. But company spokesperson Ryan McKeel said Tuesday it’s already “provided remdesivir on a compassionate use basis to treat several hundred patients with confirmed, severe COVID-19 infection in the United States, Europe and Japan.”

Expanded access, also known as compassionate use, allows patients with life-threatening conditions who have run ...