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Do not use remdesivir to treat COVID-19, no matter how sick the patient is. That advice is given by the World Health Organization (WHO) after a new review of the antiviral drug failed to show that it alleviates the disease.
The drug remdesivir is used in patients with covid, but now the WHO advises against its use against covid-19. Stock Photography.
Early studies suggested that remdesivir could lead to a shorter course of the disease. Therefore, the drug has become part of the treatment for covid-19 patients, also in Sweden. In October, the EU ordered 500,000 doses worth just over SEK 10 billion.
But a month ago, after clinical studies, the WHO concluded that remdesivir has little or no effect on COVID-19. Now, a WHO panel developing international guidelines has reached the same conclusion and advises against the drug, the Reuters news agency reports.
“The /…/ panel found that there is no evidence that remdesivir improves the odds of things that are valuable to patients, such as reduced mortality, the need for a ventilator, recovery time …”, write the panel.
He has examined four international studies examining 7,000 randomly selected hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
Remdesivir must be administered intravenously, so the panel concludes that handling and treatment is too expensive and complex in terms of what you get from the drug.
“Especially given the costs and resources associated with remdesivir /…/, the panel felt a responsibility to be able to demonstrate evidence of its effectiveness, which has not been proven by currently available data,” the panel writes.
The WHO recommendation is not binding and the panel would like to see more studies evaluating remdesivir. The drug has been approved as a treatment for Covid-19 in more than 50 countries.
