Remdesivir – Is the Covid-19 treatment finally here?
There seem to be finally some good news coming our way on Covid-19 treatment. The US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has indicated that ‘remdesivir’ could be a possible treatment for coronavirus. They said that there is evidence that the experimental drug remdesivir might help patients recover a lot more quickly from the infection.
Although none of the drugs have been approved by the US FDA as yet, for the treatment of the coronavirus, an announcement is expected from the FDA for emergency-use authorization for remdesivir, according to The New York Times.
So what’s remdesivir?
Remdesivir is an antiviral and it works by attacking an enzyme that a virus needs in order to replicate inside our cells. It was originally developed as an Ebola treatment by Gilead Sciences. As per Gilead Sciences website
Remdesivir is an investigational nucleotide analog with broad-spectrum antiviral activity – it is not approved anywhere globally for any use. Remdesivir has demonstrated in vitro and in vivo activity in animal models against the viral pathogens MERS and SARS, which are also coronaviruses and are structurally similar to COVID-19. The limited preclinical data on remdesivir in MERS and SARS indicate that remdesivir may have potential activity against COVID-19.
Gilead Sciences Inc
The study, funded by the US government, found that patients who were given remdesivir recovered faster than patients who weren’t. The FDA officials said they are in talks with Gilead Sciences, the maker of remdesivir, about making the drug available to patients.
What were the findings of the study?
The trial was run by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and 1,063 people took part. Remdesivir cut the duration of symptoms from 15 days down to 11 in clinical trials at hospitals around the world.
Dr Anthony Fauci, a world-famous figure now, who heads the NIAID is said to have met US President Donald Trump and informed him about the findings.
“The data shows remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery. Although a 31% improvement doesn’t seem like a knockout 100%, it is very important proof of concept. What it has proven is that a drug can block this virus.”
Dr Anthony Fauci
Does this mean we have found a cure for Covid-19?
Not as yet, however, its emergency-use authorization by FDA will be a big confidence booster for the scientific and medical community. In any case, this certainly is a big step, as stated by Dr. Fauci himself, the mere proof that a drug can block this virus is very valuable.
It is also valuable from the perspective of saving many lives because if this medicine can eliminate the need for intensive care then the risk of hospitals being overwhelmed is smaller, and there is less need for social distancing. These are very essential conditions to put the world back as close to normalcy as possible until a vaccine is found for this deadly virus.
What’s the way ahead?
While Dr. Fauci is optimistic about the drug, the WHO (World Health Organization) has taken a cautious stance and stated: “it’s too early to comment on the remdesivir trial results released on Wednesday.”
Prof Mahesh Parmar, the director of the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL, who has overseen the trial in the EU, said: “Before this drug can be made more widely available, a number of things need to happen: the data and results need to be reviewed by the regulators to assess whether the drug can be licensed and then they need assessment by the relevant health authorities in various countries.
“While this is happening we will obtain more and longer-term data from this trial, and other ones, on whether the drug also prevents deaths from Covid-19.”
At the same time, an article was published in ‘The New England Journal of Medicine‘ on Apr 10, 2020. The article titled ‘Compassionate Use of Remdesivir for Patients with Severe Covid-19‘ stated the following about Redmdesivir
Remdesivir appears to have a favorable clinical safety profile, as reported on the basis of experience in approximately 500 persons, including healthy volunteers and patients treated for acute Ebola virus infection, and supported by our data (on file and shared with the World Health Organization [WHO])
Gilead Sciences, the makers of remdesivir, released a statement on Apr 29, 2020. Here’s an extract from the same
Gilead Sciences. Inc. is aware of positive data emerging from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ (NIAID) study of the investigational antiviral remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19. We understand that the trial has met its primary endpoint and that NIAID will provide detailed information at an upcoming briefing… Gilead will continue to discuss with regulatory authorities the growing data set regarding remdesivir as a potential treatment for COVID-19.
Gilead Sciences. Inc.
In the subsequent briefing, Gilead Sciences released its own findings from a different trial of the drug. The company said it found patients did just as well taking remdesivir for five days as those who took it for 10. The study is being expanded and conducted at 180 locations around the world, including in the United States, China, France, Italy and the United Kingdom.
In the end, remdesivir surely sounds like a credible hope and we can look forward to the researchers and medical fraternity to deliver this intermediate cure to us and help us move back to our normal life. Amen!