Remdesivir: WHO advises against the drug of hope against corona – health



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It was considered one of the beacons of hope in the fight against the serious diseases of Covid 19, but now the World Health Organization (WHO) advises against the use of the drug Remdesivir!

After careful review, a WHO expert panel concluded that the drug “does not have a significant influence on mortality or other important effects in patients, such as the need for artificial ventilation or recovery time.” wrote the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in an article published on Friday.

Nor is it ruled out that the drug may also cause harm. In addition, there are the costs of use: a treatment of more than five days costs 1976 euros, according to the BMJ.

Remdesivir was originally developed by the American pharmaceutical company Gilead to combat the Ebola virus. After the global pandemic broke out, it was considered a beacon of hope in the fight against Covid-19 for a time.

In July, it was the first drug approved in Europe for the specific treatment of certain patients. However, more recent evidence had suggested that the drug’s benefit is minimal at best.

The findings emerged from a WHO-coordinated study of thousands of patients in nearly 500 clinics in more than 30 countries.

Manufacturer Gilead, on the other hand, refers in a recent statement to “demonstrated clinical benefits in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.” Advantages include “in particular, significantly faster recovery time,” so hospitals are less busy.

The first results of the study, which were published in October, had shown that Covid-19 patients treated with Remdesivir recovered on average about five days faster (10 instead of 15 days) than other sick people.

In Germany, the drug will continue to be used initially to treat corona patients. A spokesman for the Ministry of Health announced that they wanted to wait for a reassessment at the EU level. Remdesivir is only used in very specific cases.

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