According to a new study, after taking a 5-day course of Remdesivir drug manufactured by Gilead Sciences Inc, condition of moderately ill Covid-19 patients started to improve. These patients were found to have higher odds of improvement in certain areas like their need for supplemental oxygen got reduced in comparison to patients who had gone through standard treatment.
However, the clinical importance of the benefit for those patients was found to be uncertain. The drug did not significantly reduce the need for hospitalisation while a 10-day course of the drug did not show any benefit.
The study has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. About 600 participants suffering coronavirus were analysed in the study. In a trial of the drug, it was observed that it reduced the hospital recovery time of severely ill Covid-19 patients.
In moderately ill Covid-19 patients, post 11 days of treatment, 65% of the 10-day remdesivir patients, 70% of the 5-day patients and 60% of the standard care patients got discharged from hospital.
More frequent side effects like nausea, low blood potassium levels, and headache were observed in patients who were given remdesivir drug than those who received standard treatment.
In the context of differing trial results for remdesivir drug, JAMA editorial commented, “The question of whether the discrepancies are artifacts of study design choices, including patient populations, or whether the drug is less efficacious than hoped”.
It added, “Important questions remain regarding the efficacy of remdesivir, including which patients are most likely to benefit from the drug, the optimal duration of therapy, the drug’s impact on clinical outcomes, and its relative effect if combined with generic steroid treatments.”