Covid-19: Remdesivir has little or no impact on survival, WHO trial shows

The largest trial to date of treatments repurposed for use in the covid-19 pandemic has shown that none of the four drugs studied produced any measurable benefit in mortality or disease course. This includes remdesivir—a drug already recommended by several guidelines and pre-ordered by numerous governments around the world. Hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir-ritonavir, and interferon beta-1a regimens also seemed to have little or no effect on 28 day mortality. None of the drugs delayed the need for ventilation or shortened the stay of patients admitted to hospital. “For each drug in the study, the effect on mortality was disappointingly unpromising,” said the World Health Organization in a statement. The WHO Solidarity trial followed 11 266 adults at 405 hospitals in 30 …