Remdesivir shows promise against COVID-19, but more trials needed: Scientists

HOUSTON: Researchers claim that COVID-19 patients in a clinical trial are responding quickly to Remdesivir, a finding which they said is "promising," while also emphasising the need for more trials to test the effectiveness of the antiviral drug.

According to the researchers from the Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas, US, the trial's criteria allows for the treatment of patients early in their clinical course, and in some cases when they may have otherwise been intubated.

"Early results are promising, and that is important right now. Much of what we are learning about COVID-19 management is centred around preventing quick deterioration," said Katherine K. Perez, an infectious diseases pharmacist from Houston Methodist Hospital in the US.


"Timing is everything. I can't say for certain they would have been intubated otherwise, but it's encouraging," Perez said.

Originally developed to treat Ebola more than a decade ago, Remdesivir is a broad-spectrum antiviral drug, according to a study, published in the journal Nature earlier this year.

The Chinese study showed that Remdesivir could successfully block the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, from replicating in human cells.

Another research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, chronicled the case of a COVID-19 positive man, who received Remdesivir at the recommendation of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and reportedly started improving within 24 hours.

"One of the most challenging things with COVID-19 is the way this virus makes copies of itself once it finds its way into the body," the hospital said in a statement to the press.