Remdesivir Shows Promising Results as a Coronavirus Treatment, According to Drug Manufacturer Gilead

Gilead, a California-based biopharmaceutical company, released two encouraging reports about remdesivir, an experimental drug that is being tested as a COVID-19 treatment. In one statement, the company said that a large study of remdesivir “met its primary endpoint”: meaning, in this case, that the researchers have concluded that hospitalized patients taking the drug appear to improve faster than patients given a placebo. The study is run by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health and involves severe patients at multiple centers across the country. Gilead has yet to release specific data from the study but noted in its release that NIAID is expected to provide more detailed results. In another statement, the company released results from one of its two ongoing “SIMPLE” trials. One of these studies is designed to test remdesivir in people with moderate disease, and the other in those with more severe disease. Both compare a five day regimen to a 10 day regimen and do not include a placebo control. The company reported on the study involving nearly 400 people with severe COVID-19, who all had pneumonia and reduced oxygen levels but did not yet need to rely on a ventilator to breathe. In the study, the five-day regimen was deemed as effective as the 10 day protocol: after 14 days, 60% of those taking the drug for five days and 52% of those taking the drug for 10 days were discharge...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news