Let’s substantiate the “gamble”.
It might have been the same podcast, and just read an article, but basically Remdesivir was originally developed to combat Ebola, and it’s proved effective against SARS and MERS, which are strains of coronavirus.
In January, Remdesivir was given to a US patient confirmed to be infected by SARS-CoV-2 in Washington who had been hospitalised with pneumonia.
The patient’s condition improved and he was discharged.
As scientists would tell us, no conclusions can be made from a one-person study, but Gilead are testing Remdesivir with more patients in China and Hong Kong.
I’ll read more to understand if this means reasonable chances of a successful COVID fighting medicine for them.