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If the World Health Organization (WHO) has its way, Covid 19 patients should no longer be treated with the initially promising drug Remdesivir. The drug “does not have a decisive influence” on the probability of survival, the organization announced. Remdesivir is one of the few drugs available to doctors in the treatment of Covid-19.
International experts from the WHO Panel for the Development of Guidelines (GDG) based their new recommendation on four international studies. These contain data on more than 7,000 hospital patients who were infected with the new coronavirus.
Based on the results, there is currently no evidence that remdesivir treatment reduces mortality, protects against artificial ventilation, or shortens time in hospital, according to WHO. It doesn’t matter how severe Covid 19 disease is.
However, experts also admit in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) that their recommendation does not mean that Remdesivir brings absolutely no benefit to patients. Instead, the advice relies on a trade-off between data on efficacy, treatment costs, and methods of administration. Nor is it ruled out that the drug may also cause harm.
First crown drug approved in Europe
The US pharmaceutical agency FDA officially approved Remdesivir last month for the treatment of patients with Covid-19, the drug previously had emergency approval. Also in Europe, Remdesivir was the first drug to receive marketing authorization for the therapy of Covid 19 patients. However, the approval is initially limited to one year and only applies to certain seriously ill patients. You can withdraw at any time.
European authorities based their decision in July on a study with more than 1,000 patients that had been published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Consequently, the drug shortened the time until a patient’s condition improved significantly in hospital, compared with a placebo, from 15 to 11 days on average.
This contrasts with the results of the WHO Solidarity Trial, for which teams of doctors from around the world provide data on the efficacy of potential Covid-19 drugs. Information from more than 11,000 patients from around 400 hospitals was included in the analyzes. Consequently, none of the four active ingredients tested produced the expected success, including remdesivir.
Of 2,743 patients treated with remdesivir, eleven percent died. In the roughly equally large comparison group in which patients were not treated with the agent, the figure was 11.2 percent. However, the manufacturer of remdesivir Gilead doubts the validity of the study. Since medical teams could participate worldwide, deviations in implementation, control and selected patients are expected, the company said in mid-October.
Remdesivir was originally developed to treat Ebola, but it also failed to help Ebola patients. The drug is designed to prevent viruses from using human cells to recreate their genetic makeup. Without the help of cells, pathogens cannot multiply. The drug is given by infusion and therapy lasts between five and ten days.
