Thread by @TheLancet

NEW Research—First randomised trial of #remdesivir for hospitalised patients who are critically ill with #COVID19 suggests antiviral drug is not associated with significant clinical benefits vs placebo: study of 237 adults from 10 hospitals in Wuhan (1/5) hubs.ly/H0p-BMJ0

Authors note that the study was stopped early by the data safety monitoring board because of difficulty recruiting patients after the #COVID19 outbreak in Wuhan, China was brought under control & more research is needed (2/5)

While not statistically significant, pre-specified secondary outcomes found that time to clinical improvement & duration of invasive mechanical ventilation were shorter in people treated with remdesiver within 10 days of showing symptoms, compared with standard care (3/5)

In a Comment, John Norrie "Absence of statistical significance in an underpowered trial means that the findings are inconclusive. The particular challenges of delivering pandemic trials underline the importance of data sharing, allowing rapid curation of relevant datasets" (4/5)

Prof John Norrie continues "Promising signals from observational data must be rigorously confirmed or refuted in high-quality randomised trials—particularly given that for #COVID19 no proven safe and effective treatments yet exist" (5/5) hubs.ly/H0p-zTg0

Full Article and linked Comment also available below:

#Remdesivir in adults with severe #COVID19: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre trial: thelancet.com/lancet/article…

Remdesivir for COVID-19: challenges of underpowered studies thelancet.com/lancet/article…