S&P 500 ETF jumping 2% on report Gilead drug showing effectiveness treating coronavirus

S&P 500 ETF are jumpng 2% after hours on report Gilead drug showing effectiveness treating coronavirus.

CNBC news reports that "the ETF that tracks the S&P 500 rallied in after-hours trading Thursday after a report said a Gilead Sciences drug was showing effectiveness in treating the coronavirus. The move pointed to a jump for the stock market on Friday."

Around 5 p.m. ET, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 2%. Stock futures open at 6 p.m. ET.

Gilead shares jumped by 9% after STAT news reported that a Chicago hospital treating coronavirus patients with Remdesivir in a trial were recovering rapidly from severe symptoms. The publication cited a video it obtained where the trial results were discussed.

CNBC explained that Remdesivir was one of the first medicines identified as having the potential to impact SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, in lab tests.

The entire world has been waiting for results from Gilead’s clinical trials, and positive results would likely lead to fast approvals by the Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory agencies. If safe and effective, it could become the first approved treatment against the disease.

The University of Chicago Medicine recruited 125 people with Covid-19 into Gilead’s two Phase 3 clinical trials. Of those people, 113 had severe disease. All the patients have been treated with daily infusions of remdesivir.

“The best news is that most of our patients have already been discharged, which is great. We’ve only had two patients perish,” said Kathleen Mullane, the University of Chicago infectious disease specialist overseeing the remdesivir studies for the hospital.

STAT News reported that:

Almost all patients were discharged in under than a week, and only two patients died, STAT said, citing comments made this week during a video discussion about trial results with University of Chicago faculty members.

STAT cautions that trials are running at other institutions and full study results can’t yet be determined; Gilead told the news outlet that it’s looking forward to data becoming available.

University of Chicago Medicine recruited 125 people into two late-stage studies, including 113 with severe COVID-19.