Gilead's Remdesivir Fails To Show Antiviral Effects Against COVID-19 In Small WHO Study

According to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, neither Gilead Sciences Inc's GILD Veklury (remdesivir) nor hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) did significantly clear the virus from hospitalized COVID-19 patients or affect the degree of respiratory failure and inflammation over the standard of care after ten days.
Between 28 March and 4 October 2020, 185 patients were randomly assigned, and 181 were included in the full analysis set. Patients received remdesivir (n=42), HCQ (n=52), or standard of care (SoC) (n=87).
The most important secondary outcome specific to the NOR-Solidarity trial was the viral load in a patient's throat. Among all groups, the amount declined a week after someone received initial treatment and fell similarly after ten days.
But investigators observed no marked difference in that decline between the treatment groups. If anything, the decrease rate was nominally in favor of a standard of care, the team wrote.
The presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies or high or low viral load at hospital admission "did not influence the potential antiviral effects of these drugs," the researchers wrote.
Veklury did show an improvement in respiratory function after a week over the standard of care, but there was no difference at day 10, the study found.
The randomized trial, dubbed NOR-Solidarity, was an independent add-on to the World Health Organization's (WHO) previously reported 11,200-person Solidarity trial.
That Solidarity study, released in October, found that Veklury "appeared to have little or no effect on hospitalized COVID-19" when measured by the need for ventilation, the length of hospital stay, and overall mortality.
Price Action: GILD shares closed at $68.07 on Monday.

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