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A file photo of an office of Gilead Sciences Inc. is shown in Foster City, California. (Reuters)
The trial showed that remdesivir did not improve the condition of the patients or reduce the presence of the pathogen in the bloodstream.
- Reuters
- Last update: April 23, 2020, 11:25 p.m. IST
The experimental coronavirus drug from Gilead Sciences Inc failed in its first randomized clinical trial, the Financial times reported Thursday, citing drafts of documents accidentally released by the World Health Organization.
Trading in the company’s shares stopped after they fell 6%. The Chinese trial showed that remdesivir antiviral did not improve patients’ condition or reduce the pathogen’s presence in the bloodstream, according to the report.
The researchers studied 237 patients, administered the medication to 158, and compared their progress with the remaining 79. The drug also showed significant side effects in some, meaning 18 patients were withdrawn, according to the report.
Interest in the Gilead drug had been high since there are currently no approved treatments or preventive vaccines for COVID-19, and doctors are desperate for anything that can alter the course of the disease that attacks the lungs and may shut down other organs. in extremely severe cases. .
The company is testing the drug in multiple trials, and highly anticipated results are expected from a study involving 400 hospitalized patients with severe cases of the disease later this month.
Remdesivir, which previously failed as a treatment for Ebola, is being tested against COVID-19 because it is designed to disable the mechanism by which certain viruses, including the new coronavirus, make copies of themselves and potentially overwhelm their host’s immune system. .
