WHO refrained from making a recommendation on how countries should roll out remdesivir
Geneva:
A World Health Organization (WHO) trial that concluded Gilead Sciences Inc.’s remdesivir did not significantly help patients with COVID-19 is reliable, a scientist who assessed the data, as the American company criticized its methodology.
“It’s a reliable result, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise because they will try to do it,” Richard Peto, an independent statistician hired by the WHO to review the results of his Solidarity trial, told reporters. “It’s real world proof.”
In a blow to one of the few drugs used to treat people with COVID-19, the WHO said on Thursday that remdesivir appeared to have little or no effect on 28-day mortality or length of stays in the hospital in patients with respiratory disease.
Gilead, who obtained the data from Solidarity 10 days ago, questioned the results, telling Reuters they appeared “inconsistent with stronger evidence from several randomized controlled studies published in peer-reviewed journals validating the clinical benefit of remdesivir “.
The WHO trial was conducted in 11,266 adult patients in more than 30 countries and also found that other drugs reused since the start of the pandemic – hydroxychloroquine, a combination of anti-HIV lopinavir / ritonavir and interferon – also offered little or no benefit. to COVID-19 patients.
The results of the WHO trial have not yet been reviewed and have been uploaded to the medRxiv preprint server.
While Gilead said other trials of remdesivir, including with 1,062 patients who compared it to a placebo, have shown the treatment to reduce recovery time from COVID-19, Peto, professor emeritus at the University of Oxford said the perceived benefit from the smaller trial could have been mere “luck.” “
The WHO has refrained from making a recommendation on how countries should roll out remdesivir, saying guidance would come in two or three weeks after a review of Solidarity’s data. The European Union has just accepted a billion euros ($ 1.2 billion) deal for remdesivir.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
