Does Remdesivir Actually Work Against Covid-19? (NYT)

[Mike 03]

New York Times
Nov 17
By Ravi Gupta and Reshma Ramachandran

The evidence shows only that the drug might be effective. That once wasn’t enough for F.D.A. approval.

Excerpt:

Early in the pandemic, the agency awarded an emergency use authorization for the antiviral drug remdesivir, based on evidence suggesting that it may be effective. Then last month, despite conflicting evidence, the F.D.A. prematurely granted its first full approval for Covid-19 treatment to remdesivir, now marketed as Veklury.

In early October, The New England Journal of Medicine published a report on the results of a trial funded by the National Institutes of Health that found that remdesivir decreased recovery time in Covid-19 patients who were hospitalized with less severe illness, but did not curb mortality. Other studies have shown no benefit, including the World Health Organization’s Solidarity trial, released as a preprint on Oct. 15.

Based on these results, the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine is now recommending that the drug not be routinely used in hospitalized Covid-19 patients. Infectious disease experts have stated that after examining all available evidence, we can reasonably conclude only that remdesivir may work.

Some have argued that the approval of Veklury is justified even if it is only mildly effective because there are no other proven therapies for Covid-19. This fails to acknowledge, however, the proven effectiveness of drugs like dexamethasone, a cheap and widely used steroid.

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/opinion/remdesivir-covid-fda.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

Paywall, but I tried to select the key paragraphs.

[JCMach1]

1. All I can say is remdesivir and dexamethasone

In combination saved my life and got me out of hospital in 12 days despite the severity of my Covid pneumonia.

Without it, I was headed to a respirator.