Angus and McCreary question efficacy of remdesivir in COVID-19
Pitt Public Health alumnus, Distinguished Professor of health policy and management, and chair of critical care medicine, Derek Angus (BCHS '92) and clinical assisant professor of medicine Erin McCreary coauthored an editorial raising questions about whether some patients get more benefit from remdesivir than others and whether it matters if patients receive remdesivir and steroids together. It is still possible that remdesivir could improve recovery for millions of patients hospitalized with COVID-19, they added, but more research is needed before that becomes clear.
Their editorial responds to a new study published in JAMA about the efficacy of Gilead Sciences Inc's (GILD.O) anti-viral medication remdesivir in COVID-19 patients, which yielded disappointing results. A10-day course of the drug did not show a statistically significant effect on disease course at 11 days after treatment started, thought a five-day remdesivir course did make a small, statistically significant, difference.
Remdesivir is currently sold under a USFDA emergency-use authorization for treating patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19. Gilead has filed an application seeking full FDA approval.
Read more
8/21/2020