South Korea is seeking to approve the experimental antiviral drug remdesivir as an emergency treatment for COVID-19 patients.

Food and Drug Safety Minister Lee Eui-kyung said on Friday that Seoul is preparing to approve the drug after clinical trials in both South Korea and the United States generated positive results.

Trials in the U.S. have shown remdesivir can shorten the recovery period in some coronavirus patients from around 15 days to eleven days, while also reducing the fatality rate from about 12 to seven percent.

Originally developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences to combat the Ebola virus, remdesivir reportedly stops the propagation of COVID-19 in an infected body.

The South Korean government is reportedly considering an emergency use approval for remdesivir as its first official COVID-19 treatment drug and to bring in supplies under special import authorization.

Early this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA) granted an emergency-use authority to administer the drug to patients in intensive care.