BATON ROUGE - Remdesivir has received The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients, becoming the first FDA-approved treatment for the virus in the United States as of Thursday, Oct. 22.

Gilead Sciences' antiviral drug began being used to treat the coronavirus in May as the FDA approved it for emergency use, allowing hospitals and doctors to use the drug on hospitalized patients although it had not been formally approved.

The antiviral drug is said to stop the virus from replicating inside of the body and significantly decreases the time patients spend in the hospital, according to researchers. The drug was used to treat President Donald Trump earlier this month.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, spoke highly of the treatment back in April.

"The data shows that Remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery. This is really important," Dr. Fauci said.