USA TODAY International Edition
Breakdown: Remdesivir and coronavirus
Early data in study giving hope Gilead drug may speed recovery
The experimental drug remdesivir has emerged as the first possible scientifically proven treatment for COVID- 19, but there is no guarantee.
Early data from a global study released Wednesday found patients given remdesivir recovered faster and may be less likely to die. Another study published the same day in the British medical journal The Lancet found no clinical benefits to the drug.
What is remdesivir?
Remdesivir is an antiviral drug from the American biotech firm Gilead Sciences. It was originally tested as a treatment for Ebola and other coronaviruses including SARS. The drug impairs the ability of the virus to replicate, according to John Scott, chair of the department of pharmacology at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Dr. Aneesh Mehta, lead investigator for the portion of the remdesivir trial at Emory University in Atlanta, stressed the drug and other antivirals are not “silver bullets” that immediately get rid of an infection, and damage doesn't “all go away” when the virus is gone.
Are patients being treated with remdesivir?
It has not been approved anywhere for any use, according to Gilead, but is being given to patients in six clinical trials. Gilead has implemented programs that provide emergency treatment access for children and pregnant women with severe symptoms and is trying to expand emergency access beyond these groups.
Fauci: Federal trial showed ‘ proof of concept’
Early results released Wednesday from the global study conducted by the U. S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases found patients who received remdesivir had a 31% faster recovery than those who received a placebo. While not a “knock out,” NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci said the study results were “a very important proof of concept.”
The NIAID study involved 1,063 hospitalized patients whose lungs were affected. About half those patients who got remdesivir had a median recovery time of 11 days, while patients on a placebo had a median recovery time of 15 days.
Patients given remdesivir had a mortality rate of 8% compared with 11.6% of the placebo group. It is unclear if those numbers are statistically significant.
A randomized, double- blind, placebo- controlled trial at 10 hospitals in Wuhan, China, found no statistically significant difference in how quickly patients improved. Though a higher number of patients receiving remdesivir showed a faster time to clinical improvement, the numbers weren't enough to be more than chance.
Treatment options the U. S. is considering
Remdesivir is one of several drugs touted recently as possible coronavirus treatments.
Hydroxychloroquine, convalescent plasma and immuno- modulators like tocilizumab have been given to patients with COVID- 19 in clinical trials, but remdesivir is the only treatment that has been shown to have even a potential effect on the disease.