Remdesivir has “small effect” against death or progression to ventilation, WHO trial finds

Remdesivir has no significant effect on patients with Covid-19 who are already being ventilated but has a small effect against death or progression to ventilation among other patients admitted to hospital, the World Health Organization’s Solidarity trial has found.

This appears to be a change from findings reported in February 2021, when preliminary trial data suggested that remdesivir “had little or no effect on patients admitted to hospital with Covid-19.”

The updated results, published in the Lancet, reported that overall 14.5% of patients assigned to remdesivir died compared with 15.6% assigned to the control group.

The release of these results has prompted questions about why it has taken so long to publish these data, especially considering WHO’s recommendation against the use of remdesivir in patients with Covid-19.

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Source: BMJ, 4 May 2022