Remdesivir – – Surprise me a lot

skeptical

There is great optimism about the effect of Remdesivir in the treatment of Covid-19. But the experts Dagbladet has spoken to are still skeptical at the moment.

Recently, the US National Institute of Health. USA (NIH) released a press release about a new study indicating that Covid-19 patients who received Remdesivir had a 31 percent faster recovery time.

The renowned magazine The Lancet recently published a Chinese study that, on the other hand, shows that the drug had no effect.

– The results that NIH has published so far are promising. But we want to take a closer look at the results. There must be significantly better data on the effect Remdesivir has before a comprehensive evaluation can be done, says Røttingen at the Research Council.

– I am moderately optimistic, says the medical director of the Swedish Medicines Agency, Steinar Madsen, to Dagbladet.

Browse raw data

The Swedish Medicines Agency is studying raw data on Remdesivir together with the German authorities. Together, they have been given the responsibility to make a decision on the use of the drug on behalf of the entire EU.

Norway will also be included in the decision, says the head of the infection department of the Swedish Medicines Agency, Charlotta Bergquist, to Dagbladet.

– What will this approval include?

– It is difficult to answer. There may not be any approval at all. At the same time, it is too early to say which group of patients should include any approval. It must be considered first and foremost.

– Are you optimistic?

– It is a complex question and it is not clear what the data shows. There will be more data, so we’ll see, she says.

Crisis approval

Ordinary approval of a drug is done by the European pharmaceutical authorities, says Steinar Madsen at the Swedish Medicines Agency. This applies to all European countries.

But each country can also grant temporary approval of a drug in an emergency.

– Similarly, we have approved that Remdesivir be used as a treatment against Covid-19 in Norway in an investigative context.

warns

Remdesivir is tested in Norwegian patients at the University Hospital of Oslo and the University Hospital of Haukeland. This is in relation to the Norwegian part of the global drug study.

– Will such approval give very limited use of the medicine?

– It depends on the hospitals how they will use the medicine, says Madsen and continues:

– It is very important not to start using Remdesivir widely in the treatment of patients with Covid-19 outside of clinical trials. This is because it could destroy the results of the investigation. Now we need first level studies, which give us sure answers.

The route also warns of overuse of the drug, prematurely.

– If Remdesivir is used as a standard treatment prematurely, we fear that you will never have a full understanding of the effects it has on the treatment of Covid-19. Therefore, you run the risk of using resources in a medicine with a marginal effect.