Remdesivir benefits moderate COVID-19 patients, study finds

Remdesivir helped patients with moderate COVID-19 infection recover quicker than patients not taking the drug, Gilead said June 1. 

In its phase 3 trial, the drugmaker found remdesivir helped patients with moderate COVID-19 infection recover quicker when they received it for five days, but the benefit wasn't statistically significant when the drug was given for 10 days, STAT reported. 

The new data support evidence that remdesivir is at least somewhat effective in treating COVID-19, but will likely add to the debate over which patients should get it, according to STAT

In the trial, moderate COVID-19 infection was defined as being hospitalized but not needing mechanical ventilation. 

The trial didn't include a placebo group. 

Patients who were given remdesivir for five days were 65 percent more likely to show improvement. Those who received the drug for 10 days were just 31 percent more likely to show improvement, but the study's authors said that the difference wasn't statistically significant, meaning it may have happened by chance, STAT reported.

There were no deaths in the five-day group and two in the 10-day group.

Nahid Bhadelia, the medical director of the special pathogens unit at Boston Medical Center, told STAT that it was frustrating to get the data from a news release rather than to see the actual data. She said until the actual data is published, many physicians will be in a "gray area" where they're not quite sure how to use the drug. 

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