Study: Remdesivir vs placebo for COVID-19 treatment

Editor's Note

In this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of IV remdesivir in adults hospitalized with COVID-19 and lower respiratory tract infection, remdesivir was found to be superior to placebo in shortening the time to recovery.

A total of 1,062 patients were randomized to either remdesivir (541) or placebo (521).

Remdesivir patients had a median recovery time of 10 days, compared with 15 days for placebo patients, and patients receiving remdesivir were more likely to have clinical improvement at day 15.

Also, at day 15, mortality was 6.7% in remdesivir patients and 11.9% in placebo patients. At day 29, mortality was 11.4% with remdesivir and 15.2% with placebo.

Serious adverse events were reported in 24.6% of remdesivir patients and 31.6% of placebo patients.

Because of the high mortality rate despite the use of remdesivir, current strategies are to evaluate remdesivir in combination with modifiers of the immune response, the researchers note.

The study was led and primarily funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, and the Department of Defense, Defense Health Program.