WHO: Remdesivir not recommended for hospitalized patients
WHO: Remdesivir not recommended for hospitalized patients
WHO Updates COVID-19 Pneumonia Drug Guidelines: Remdesivir is not recommended for the treatment of hospitalized patients. On November 20th, Pacific Time, the World Health Organization updated its drug guidelines for COVID-19 pneumonia, recommending not to use the antiviral drug Remdesivir to treat hospitalized patients, no matter how severe their condition is.
According to a study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on Nov20 2020, the current evidence does not indicate that remdesivir will affect the risk of death from COVID-19 pneumonia or severe illness requiring mechanical ventilation.
A month ago, Gilead Sciences, the developer of Remdesivir, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved remdesivir for the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, and the drug is the first to receive FDA approval. COVID-19 pneumonia treatment drugs.
Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Health and Safety Center in the United States, did not participate in the formulation of WHO drug guidelines. He said that although remdesivir has been approved by the FDA, it has not been recommended by the WHO because newly published studies show that it will initially have some benefits for patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, but as more data accumulates, This situation seems to be changing. “
Adalja said: “We have seen that the benefits of remdesivir are minimal, and the only benefit we have been touting is that it may allow patients to recover faster. The evidence base for this is weak and not conclusive. Evidence. I think this is exactly what we have seen in the WHO updated guidelines. It is based on existing data and more current evaluation data. In fact, it is an antiviral drug, in some trials It has shown some benefits in the drug, but it has not been shown to be beneficial in all trials, so it is not enough for people to use it. But I think that remdesivir may soon be replaced by other drugs.”
Adalja added that the indications of the drug will change over time.
