An antiviral drug used to treat Ebola has shown “positive data” in experimental treatments of coronavirus patients.

The hopeful signs announced on Wednesday from two separate trials of the drug remdesivir against Covid-19 prompted calls for the treatment to receive emergency use authorisation from the Food & Drug Administration.

Drug manufacturer Gilead Sciences said preliminary results from their phase 3 trial of remdesivir against severe Covid-19 showed improved symptoms in patients who were given the drug both early and late in treatment

The company also said on Wednesday it was “aware of positive data emerging” in a separate study by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases that “met its main goal”.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the US government’s top infectious disease expert, said: “The data shows remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery.”

The results prove “that a drug can block this virus,” he said, adding: “We think it’s really opening the door to the fact that we now have the capability of treating [Covid-19].”

“And I can guarantee you as more people, more companies, more investigators get involved it will get better and better.”

Former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr Scott Gottlieb said the new data should push the drug over the line to emergency use authorisation to treat coronavirus.

“As we’ve been saying for some time now, accumulating data on Remdesivir suggests it’s active against covid and there’s now enough data to support consideration of access under an emergency use authorization by FDA,” he said on Twitter.

The Gilead Sciences study looked at 397 patients with severe infections taking the drug over five and 10-day courses and found that more than half were discharged from hospital within 14 days.

It demonstrates the potential for some patients to be treated with a 5-day regimen, which could significantly expand the number of patients who could be treated with our current supply of remdesivir, according to Chief Medical Officer Dr Merdad Parsey.

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“This is particularly important in the setting of a pandemic, to help hospitals and healthcare workers treat more patients in urgent need of care,” Dr Parsey said.

“These study results complement data from the placebo-controlled study of remdesivir conducted by the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases and help to determine the optimal duration of treatment with remdesivir.”

The double-blind, placebo-controlled study from National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases is looking at more than 800 patients with critical, severe and moderate cases of Covid-19.

Gilead CEO Daniel O’Day wrote in an open letter on 4 April that multiple clinical trials would determine whether remdesivir was a safe and effective treatment for Covid-19.

Draft results from the World Health Organisation‘s trial accidentally published online last week showing no benefits of the antiviral treatment during a randomised clinical trial in China.