Since the National Institutes of Health released preliminary findings backing an FDA emergency authorization of Gilead Sciences’ COVID-19 therapy remdesivir, we have been lacking the actual data from the trials utilizing the treatment. Finally, we have the data which has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
As previously described, treatment with remdesivir cut the recovery time for hospitalized patients by about 30%. However, the updated two-week death rates leaned further in the Gilead drug's favor at 7.1% versus 11.9% for placebo, though the difference wasn’t statistically significant.
Although we would have preferred to see an improved survival numbers for patients taking remdesivir we remain encouraged because patients do recover faster which can alleviate pressure on hospital systems in response to increases in Covid cases.
