The WHO Recommends Against Use of Gilead Covid-19 Drug Remdesivir
The World Health Organization recently indicated that clinicians not use remdesivir, for patients with Covid-19. They concluded from a recent study that remdesivir does not improve the time to recovery nor improve survival.
Indeed, an international group of experts gave consultation on therapies to the WHO, following 4 international clinical trials where they were able to compare data on various treatments.
Remdesivir “has no meaningful effect on mortality or on other important outcomes for patients, such as the need for mechanical ventilation or time to clinical improvement,” the WHO said.
Nevertheless, Gilead challenges the recommendation from the WHO. The company states that remdesivir is now the standard of care for Covid-19 inpatients.
“We are disappointed the WHO guidelines appear to ignore this evidence at a time when cases are dramatically increasing around the world and doctors are relying on Veklury as the first and only approved antiviral treatment for patients with Covid-19 in approximately 50 countries,” Gilead said.
Gilead’s gave Veklury as the brand name to their drug remdesivir. Data showed that patients recovered 5 days sooner with this treatment according to a study of hospitalized patients. The difference between remdesivir and placebo with respect to patients outcomes was not statistically significant.
The WHO expressed that the study data will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. Furthermore, they base their recommendation on the potential side effects, affordability, and clinician time to administer the intravenous therapy to patients.
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