And here are the highly anticipated results from @NIAIDNews trial of remdesivir, the first US clinical trial of an experimental therapy for #covid19 in the US.
“the median time to recovery was 11 days for patients treated with remdesivir compared with 15 days for those who received placebo. Results also suggested a survival benefit, with a mortality rate of 8.0% for the group receiving remdesivir versus 11.6% for the placebo group”
This is basically what most of us were expecting: an encouraging, positive result, but far from a slam-dunk. Will be important to look at full data from trial, ideally together with data from trial conducted in China and others.
And important to remember other trials like this one: “In this study of adult patients admitted to hospital for severe COVID-19, remdesivir was not associated with statistically significant clinical benefits.” thelancet.com/journals/lance…
“However, the numerical reduction in time to clinical improvement in those treated earlier requires confirmation in larger studies.”
And of course the benefit comes at a price: Side effects. In the Lancet study, “Remdesivir was stopped early because of adverse events in 18 (12%) patients versus four (5%) patients who stopped placebo early.”
So for now: Great sign that should make us cautiously hopeful. A 30% reduction in deaths would be a huge benefit in fighting a disease against which we currently have no pharmaceutical interventions, but it’s certainly not a miracle cure.
