WASHI NGTON, United States (AFP) — Anti-viral drug remdesivir cuts recovery times in COVID-19 patients, according to the full results of a trial published Friday night, three weeks after America's top infectious diseases expert said the study showed the medication has “clear-cut” benefits.
The study found that remdesivir, injected intravenously daily for 10 days, accelerated the recovery of hospitalised COVID-19 patients compared to a placebo in clinical tests on just over a thousand patients across 10 countries.
On April 29, NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, who has become the US Government's trusted face on the coronavirus pandemic, said preliminary evidence indicated remdesivir had a “clear-cut, significant and positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery”.
The National Institutes of Health, of which the NIAID is a part, said Friday in a statement online that investigators found “remdesivir was most beneficial for hospitalised patients with severe disease who required supplemental oxygen”.
About 7.1 per cent of patients given remdesivir in the trial group died within 14 days — compared with 11.9 per cent in the placebo group.
