Possible drug to fight covid-19 fails test

One treatment experimental against new coronavirus based on antiviral medication Remdesivir it failed in the first clinical trial, according to results accidentally released Thursday (24).

The draft summary of the tests with Remdesivir was briefly published on the Internet platform of the World Health Organization (WHO) and was reported by the British newspaper. Financial times and the American medicine portal Stat.

The summary indicates that in tests conducted in China on 237 patients, with 178 medicated and another 79 in a disease control group, there was no improvement in health conditions or a reduction in the presence of pathogens in the blood. Remdesivir application even stopped early in 18 patients due to side effects.

The authors of the text affirm that the drug “was not associated with a temporal difference in clinical improvement” compared to the control group.

After one month, 13.9% of the evaluated patients died, compared to the 12.8% mortality rate among those in the control group, which does not represent a statistically significant difference.

A spokesperson for pharmaceutical manufacturer Gilead Sciences, the maker of the product, said the text contained “inadequate characterizations of the study,” saying it was closed early due to the low number of volunteers, making it statistically irrelevant.

“Therefore, the study results are inconclusive, although a trend in the data suggests a potential benefit of Remdesivir, particularly among patients treated early in the disease,” he said.

The WHO said the draft is being peer-reviewed and has been published incorrectly.

In any case, this episode does not represent the end of the attempts. There are several large-scale tests currently underway that should clarify the issues surrounding the application of the anti-coronavirus drug Sars-Cov-2.

Experts said the test considered too few people to be able to verify the benefits or risks.

See also: