. .
After reviewing the evidence panel, I found that the drug had no meaningful effect on mortality rates or other important patient outcomes
The World Health Organization (WHO) committee said Friday that Gilead’s drug Remsphere is not recommended for hospitalized patients with Covid-19 virus, regardless of how sick they are, as there is no evidence that it improves survival or reduces the need for ventilation..
« The . . . The committee found a lack of evidence that Remsphere improves outcomes of interest to patients such as reduced mortality, need for mechanical ventilation, time for clinical improvement, and others.. .
The advice is another setback for the drug, which caught the world’s attention as a potential effective treatment for Covid-19 in the summer after early trials showed some promising results..
At the end of October, Gilead lowered its revenue forecast for 2020, citing less-than-expected demand and difficult to forecast remdesivir sales..
The antiviral drug is one of only two drugs currently approved for treating Covid-19 patients worldwide, but a large trial led by the World Health Organization known as the Solidarity Trial last month showed that it had little or no effect on the 28-day mortality rate. Length of hospital stay for Covid-19 patients.
The drug was one of the drugs used to treat US President Donald Trump’s Corona virus infection, and it has been shown in previous studies that it has cut short recovery time. It is licensed or approved for use as a treatment for Covid-19 in more than 50 countries.
The WHO Guideline Development Group (GDG) committee said its recommendation was based on a review of evidence that included data from four international randomized trials involving more than 7,000 hospitalized patients with Covid-19.
After reviewing the evidence, the panel said, it concluded that remdesivir, which must be administered intravenously and thus costly and complex to administer, has no appreciable effect on mortality rates or other important outcomes for patients..
« especially in light of the costs and resource implications associated with Remdesivir. . . The committee felt that the responsibility should be to show evidence of effectiveness, which was not proven by the currently available data.. .
The WHO’s latest advice comes after one of the best bodies in the world, which represents intensive care physicians, said that antivirals for Covid-19 patients should not be used in critical care wards..
The WHO’s non-binding recommendation is part of what is called a ‘Living Guidelines’ project, designed to provide guidance to clinicians to help them make clinical decisions about patients in fast-moving situations such as the Covid-19 pandemic. The guidelines can be updated and revised as new evidence and information emerge.
The committee said, however, that it has supported continued enrollment in clinical trials evaluating remdesivir in Covid-19 patients, which it said should « provide greater certainty of evidence for specific groups of patients. ».
The recommendation could raise further questions about whether the European Union will need the 500,000 cycles of antivirals worth one billion euros it ordered last month..
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Remdesivir, Gilead Sciences, WHO, Food and Drug Administration, Emergency Use Permission, Eli Lilly and Company, Coronavirus, Antiviral Medicines, Baricitinib
World News – GB – None Evidence that the WHO panel has concluded that Remdesivir improves hospitalization for patients with Covid
Ref: https://www.telegraph.co.uk
