The drug, remdesivir, was quickly authorised by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States for treatment of coronavirus patients, and hospitals rushed to obtain supplies. But until now, researchers and physicians had not seen the actual data.
So far, remdesivir has not been officially approved for any purpose. The FDA’s emergency use authorisation was not a formal approval.
The long-awaited study, sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), appeared on The New England Journal of Medicine website Friday evening. It confirms the essence of the government’s assertions: Remdesivir shortened recovery time from 15 days to 11 days in hospitalised patients. The study defined recovery as “either discharge from the hospital or hospitalisation.”
It was an international trial, with most sites in the United States. Patients were assessed daily, and those administering the evaluations did not know whether a patient had been given remdesivir or the placebo. ♦
