COVID-19 and Remdesivir: Facts for you | TheHealthSite.com

New research suggests that antiviral drug remdesivir speeds up the recovery time of COVID-19 patients. Here’s a low-down on this drug.

The novel coronavirus, which led to the global COVID-19 pandemic, has affected above million people and taken the lives of more than 3 lakhs, worldwide. In India, the death toll is 4337 so far while the figure for COVID-19 cases hovers around 1.5 lakhs. But unfortunately, scientists or doctors haven’t been able to find a vaccine or treatment for this deadly virus yet.  However, various drugs and vaccines are at different levels of trial and development. Recently, a report published in the New England Journal says that an antiviral drug, remdesivir, can speed up the recovery of COVID-19 patient. The findings of the study suggest that it reduced the recovery time from 15 days to 11 days. However, it was effective for COVID-19 patients who required supplemental oxygen therapy, not the severe cases where ventilation was necessary. Moreover, it didn’t show a statistically significant drop in death rates. Also Read - Faulty gene linked to dementia doubles the risk of severe COVID-19 complications

This study involved 1,063 COVID-19 patients, out of whom 538 were treated with remdesivir. Researchers gave a placebo to the remaining 521 patients. While the remidesivir group recovered in 11 days, people who were on placebo took 11 days to be cured. The rate of death among those administered this drug was 7 per cent while the figure was 11 per cent for the other group. Also Read - A face mask that can kill the COVID-19 pathogen on contact: This may be a reality soon

What is remdesivir?

Remdesivir is an antiviral drug, manufactured originally for the treatment of Ebola and hepatitis C. Developed by the pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, this drug has recently been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of COVID-19. Remdesivir works by robbing viruses (such as the novel coronavirus), of their capacity to replicate themselves. This drug imitates the actions of the building blocks of a virus’ genetic material. So, when the virus tries to copy itself it uses remdesivir instead of its own gene’s building blocks. Experts state that remdesivir can be used only for the treatment of adult and adolescent patients admitted to the hospital with COVID-19. This drug shouldn’t be used for prevention of this infection. Also Read - COVID-19 Live Updates: Cases in India surge to 1,51,767 as death toll reaches 4,337

Research on remdesivir so far

Remdesivir has been part of many clinical trial all over the world including China and US. However, the Chinese trial was terminated as the country had brought the pandemic under control by then. The findings of this trial, reported in The Lancet journal in April, suggested that remdesivir didn’t impact the recovery time or mortality rates of COVID-19 patients significantly. It was also observed that this antiviral drug was incapable of improving the conditions of those affected. It was also unable to bring down the quantity of the novel coronavirus in their bodies. The researchers, however, later concluded that more extensive studies are necessary to draw a conclusion. The US research is a much larger one. But its results are yet to be published.

This drug is also part of WHO’s Solidarity trial.  Along with this drug, three other formulations have also been part of this trial by WHO. They are hydroxychloroquine, a combination of two HIV drugs, lopinavir and ritonavir and a formulation with lopinavir, ritonavir and interferon-beta.