WHO: Remdesivir is not recommended for the treatment of covid

Reporter : Liu Qu / Publisher : Xinhua News Agency / http://news.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2020/11/448874.shtm / Translation, editing : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA / Image : digicomphoto, iStock

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a statement on 20 November 2020, stating that no matter how severe the condition of hospitalized patients with covid is, the antiviral drug remdesivir is not recommended for treatment, because there is no evidence to show that the drug can improve the survival rate of patients or reduce the patient's demand for ventilators.

The statement said that a WHO guideline development team composed of international experts published an article in the British Medical Journal on 20 November, stating that remdesivir  is increasingly being used to treat patients with covid, but it is in clinical practice. The role of this is still unclear.

The expert group reached the above conclusion after evaluating and comparing the efficacy of several new crown drugs. The evaluation covered 4 international randomized trials involving data on more than 7,000 hospitalized covid patients.

The expert group pointed out that although remdesivir cannot be determined to be completely useless so far, the existing data cannot prove that the drug can significantly improve the treatment effect of patients. Considering that remdesivir may have serious side effects and its high cost and resource consumption, the expert group decided not to recommend the drug, but at the same time it also supports the continued evaluation of remdesivir, with a view to using it for specific patient groups. The medicine provides conclusive evidence.

Remdesivir is an antiviral drug developed by Gilead Technology, USA, originally used to treat diseases such as Ebola hemorrhagic fever and Middle East respiratory syndrome. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved remdesivir in October for the inpatient treatment of adult patients with new crowns and children over 12 years of age and weighing more than 40 kg, making it the first drug approved by the US Drug Administration for the treatment of covid.