WHO rejects the use of Remdesivir for coronavirus patients

Agency: The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned against the use of Remdesivir for patients admitted to hospital with Covid-19 infection. An expert panel of the WHO has advised that there is no evidence that it increases chance of survival.

The WHO Guideline Development Group (GDG) reported this issue after comparing the effects of various drug treatments on more than 7,000 patients hospitalized with Covid-19. There were four international random trials of the drug treatments.

In the expert panel, there were four patients who had Covid-19 infection. The WHO statement said Remdesivir has no meaningful effect on mortality or on other important outcomes for patients, such as the need for mechanical ventilation or time to clinical improvement.

In October, the WHO had said that Remdesivir had found little to no effect on the length of time patients spent in hospital or their survival after the trial.

Remdesivir is one of the several drugs that caught global attention at this time, as it was developed by a US pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences for the treatment of Ebola.

Source: Aljazeera