World’s Leading Critical Care Organization advises against remdesivir for sickest Covid patients

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Brussels:

Antiviral remdesivir should not be used as a routine treatment for patients with COVID-19 in intensive care units, the head of one of the world‘s leading bodies representing intensive care physicians said in a blow to the drug developed by the American company Gilead.

Remdesivir, also known as Veklury, and the steroid dexamethasone are the only drugs licensed to treat patients with COVID-19 worldwide. But the largest study on the effectiveness of remdesivir, conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), showed on October 15 that it had little to no impact, contradicting previous trials.

In light of new provisional data from the WHO solidarity trial, “remdesivir is now classified as a drug that you should not use routinely in patients with COVID-19,” said the president of the European Society for Critical Care Medicine (ESICM), Jozef Kesecioglu. in an interview with Reuters.

Kesecioglu said the recommendation would be discussed in a scientific paper on COVID therapies that ESICM is preparing with the Society of Critical Care Medicine, another critical care organization, which is expected to be published by January.

The first version of the document, released in March, said there was not enough information to recommend the use of remdesivir and other antivirals in critically ill COVID-19 patients.

Gilead, who questioned the WHO’s findings, said in an emailed statement: “We are confident that frontline physicians recognize Veklury’s clinical benefit based on strong evidence from multiple studies. randomized controlled. “

ESICM represents thousands of anesthesiologists, respiratory physicians, nurses and other critical care professionals in more than 120 countries.

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