Remdesivir did not cut hospital stay or mortality in virus patients: WHO
Remdesivir for coronavirus
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that remdesivir has had little or no effect on coronavirus patients' length of hospital stay or chances of survival.
The drug was recently used to treat US President Donald Trump after he was detected with the virus. The US president had completed two doses of therapeutic drug remdesivir, according to White House doctor Sean Conley which he was administered soon after he arrived at the Walter Reed hospital.
WHO tested remdesivir, anti-HIV drug combination lopinavir/ritonavir, interferon and hydroxychloroquine in over 30 countries and found it had "little or no effect on 28-day mortality or the length of the in-hospital course among patients hospitalized with COVID-19."
"We're looking at what's next. We're looking at monoclonal anti-bodies, we're looking at immunomodulators and some of the newer anti-viral drugs that have been developed in the last few months," WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said.
There is a global shortage for remdesivir which is known to be an expensive drug. The US Food and Drug Administration(FDA) had earlier granted emergency use authorization(EUA) for the antiviral remdesivir for convalescent plasma and for hydroxychloroquine. It has been authorised in several countries.
Canada had earlier allowed remdesivir to be used for patients with severe coronavirus symptoms. It was the first drug that Canada had authorized for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. In July, the European Commission had authorized the use of remdesivir to treat the virus.
Remdesivir was earlier intended as a treatment for Ebola.