The Lancet has
published the results from a
study in China testing Gilead Sciences' remdesivir in severely ill hospitalized COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.
237 patients were enrolled across 10 hospitals in Hubei province, 158 received remdesivir and 79 placebo. Patients were allowed concomitant treatment with lopinavir–ritonavir, interferons, and corticosteroids.
The primary endpoint was time to clinical improvement up to day 28 defined as the time from randomization to the point of decline of two points on a six-point scale of clinical status (1=discharged to 6=death).
Patients receiving remdesivir within 10 days of symptom onset experienced numerically faster times to clinical improvement but the results were not statistically significant.
On the safety front, the incidence of adverse events was 66% in the remdesivir arm compared to 64% in the control arm.
The investigators concluded that additional studies were needed to prove clinical benefit.
The study was
terminated early due to low enrollment. SA