--- title: Gilead Tests An Inhalable Form of Intravenous Remdesivir description: Remdesivir can currently only be administered intravenously. But that could soon change, if Gilead's tests of an inhalable form go well. canonical: https://time.com/5857471/remdesivir-inhalable/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-06-23T14:19:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T08:55:00.774Z article:section: Health og:title: Remdesivir Maker Tests Inhaled Version of Drug og:description: Remdesivir can currently only be administered intravenously. But that could soon change, if Gilead's tests of an inhalable form go well. og:url: https://time.com/5857471/remdesivir-inhalable/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt372b7f09f60cb2a7/698a0e5422fb85a2f0e2b07a/coronavirus-treatment-remdesivir-social-crop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: coronavirus-treatment-remdesivir-social-crop og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Remdesivir Maker Tests Inhaled Version of Drug twitter:description: Remdesivir can currently only be administered intravenously. But that could soon change, if Gilead's tests of an inhalable form go well. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt372b7f09f60cb2a7/698a0e5422fb85a2f0e2b07a/coronavirus-treatment-remdesivir-social-crop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Gilead Is Testing an Inhalable Form of Intravenous Remdesivir > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jun 23, 2020 2:19 PM UTC  Kenji Aoki for TIME  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jun 23, 2020 2:19 PM UTC On June 22, Gilead, the California-based pharmaceutical company that makes [remdesivir](https://time.com/5840207/coronavirus-treatment-remdesivir/), said it will start testing an [inhaled form](https://stories.gilead.com/articles/an-open-letter-from-daniel-oday-june-22) of its experimental COVID-19 therapy. Currently, patients can only receive the drug by IV infusion provided under the supervision of medical experts. In a letter published to the company’s website, chairman and CEO David O’Day said Gilead will begin screening healthy volunteers this week to participate in a phase 1 trial of a nasally administered version of remdesivir. Phase 1 trials are designed to determine the safety of an experimental treatment, before moving on to studies of its effectiveness. The IV-administered form of remdesivir is still being tested, along with other drugs, among the sickest patients who are hospitalized for COVID-19\. Early data from those studies suggest that remdesivir can help patients recover more quickly compared to patients not receiving the infusions. Because the drug is not yet approved; patients can only receive it either by participating in a trial or, if they are severely ill, through an emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (which allows doctors to prescribe the drug if no other therapies have worked). The company also announced in its June 22 letter that it will investigate using remdesivir in COVID-19 patients with less severe symptoms, in the hopes that introducing the drug earlier in the disease may help some people avoid the worst symptoms of respiratory distress and failure. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5857471/remdesivir-inhalable/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5857471/remdesivir-inhalable/"},"headline":"Gilead Is Testing an Inhalable Form of Intravenous Remdesivir","datePublished":"2020-06-23T14:19:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:55:00.774Z","description":"The drug is currently available only as an IV infusion","url":"https://time.com/5857471/remdesivir-inhalable/","keywords":["COVID-19"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt372b7f09f60cb2a7/698a0e5422fb85a2f0e2b07a/coronavirus-treatment-remdesivir-social-crop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt372b7f09f60cb2a7/698a0e5422fb85a2f0e2b07a/coronavirus-treatment-remdesivir-social-crop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"coronavirus-treatment-remdesivir-social-crop","caption":"","creditText":"Kenji Aoki for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/covid-19/","name":"COVID-19"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5857471/remdesivir-inhalable/","name":"Gilead Is Testing an Inhalable Form of Intravenous Remdesivir"}}]}] ```