Initial results from a major study of the antiviral remedivir drug showed that it could help hospital patients with COVID-19 recover faster. Dr. Anthony Fauci praised the results published on Wednesday, describing them as "very good news".
The data shows that remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery," Fauci said during a meeting with President Trump and Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards. "This is highly significant."
The study is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is led by Fauci and is part of the National Institutes of Health .
Fauci said it was the first "truly high powered" randomized placebo-controlled trial of remdesivir, noting that it involved more than 1,000 hospitalized patients at sites in numerous countries. Another randomized controlled trial in China, with results that were also announced Wednesday, was far smaller .
The NIH trial of the antiviral, which is made by Gilead Sciences, began on Feb. 21. The preliminary study results are not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal, but NIH released the results after an analysis by the data safety monitoring board overseeing the trial. Fauci said the results were announced because of the ethical responsibility to allow the placebo group to access remdesivir, since there is now clear evidence that the drug works.
The analysis found that remdesivir shortened the time it took a hospitalized COVID-19 patient to recover, compared with a placebo. The study defined "recovery" as being well enough to be discharged from the hospital or returning to normal activity.
The preliminary results showed that patients who received remdesivir recovered 31% faster — the median time to recovery was 11 days rather than 15 days. The results also suggest a slightly lower mortality rate for the group receiving remdesivir, but until the complete data are analyzed, it's not certain if that effect is significant .
Fauci said that while 31% may not seem like a huge deal, "it is a very important proof of concept. Because what it has proven is that a drug can block this virus."
The results will be sent to a journal for peer review.
Dr. Evelyn Ling, a professor of medicine, is involved with the remdesivir trial at Stanford University .
"It's definitely very promising and very exciting that we might have this option to treat these patients who currently don't have any great options right now," she says. "Every day you're in ICU, that's a lot of stress on the body, that's a lot of recovery time needed. So I think if you could shorten that, I think that's great for our patients."
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