Gilead’s Remdesivir May Not Be The Wonder Drug For COVID-19, Suggests New Data Released ‘Accidentally’ by WHO

Remdesivir, Gilead’s highly anticipated drug for COVID-19 treatment, may not be as promising as everyone is hoping for. The new, “accidentally released” data suggests that the drug has failed to speed up the improvement in COVID-19 affected patients and or even prevent their death.

These are the findings of the clinical trial conducted in China, the results for which have been anticipated since long with high hopes. The summary of the results from the clinical trial was posted accidentally to the World Health Organization (WHO) and retrieved by a media outlet. The details were later deleted from the Website.

“A draft manuscript was provided by the authors to WHO and inadvertently posted on the website and taken down as soon as the mistake was noticed. The manuscript is now undergoing peer review and we are waiting for a final version before WHO comments on it,” said WHO spokesperson Daniela Bagozzi.

However, Gilead says that the data published by the WHO contained inappropriate characterization of the study. The drug company’s spokesperson Amy Flood explained how the clinical trial had to be stopped early because of a few numbers of patients as subjects and therefore, statistically meaningful interpretation of the results cannot be established.

Flood also said that the clinical data from the study, however, suggests that ramdesivir could be potentially beneficial, especially when used for the treatment of patients of COVID-19 in the early stages of infection.

These are the results of just one clinical study involving ramdesivir. There are many other clinical trials running in parallel in different parts of the world involving the same drug.

Meanwhile, Gilead’s stocks took the hit after the release of news regarding disappointing results from the trial. Last week, the company’s stocks increased by 13 percent after it was reported that COVID-19 patients being treated with ramdesivir at a Chicago hospital are recovering quickly.