Another step toward final call on Remdesivir efficacy as a treatment for
hospitalized COVID-19 patients: a multicenter open-label trial
Abstract
Introduction: After emerging the global pandemic of SARS-CoV2 some
preliminary studies demonstrated the efficacy of antiviral treatments.
But shortly thereafter, inconsistencies in the results of further
clinical trials raised doubts on the efficacy of these agents. In this
study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of Remdesivir on hospitalized
COVID-19 patients’ outcomes. Material and methods: This study was an
open-label, single-armed, clinical trial on hospitalized patients
diagnosed with COVID-19 who had progressive respiratory symptoms despite
receiving standard care. All patients received Remdesivir and their
characteristics, outcomes, time of treatment initiation, and respiratory
support stages during hospitalization were registered and followed up
for 14 days. Results: 145 patients with the mean age of 52.89 ± 1.12
years enrolled in this study, 38 (26.2%) died at the end of 14 days
period. The mean time interval from the onset of the symptoms to
antiviral treatment was 10.63±0.56 days. Thirty deceased patients
(78.9%) were men, showing 2.8 times higher mortality chance compared to
women (ORadj=2.77; 95%CI=1.08-7.09). The type of respiratory support on
the first day of treatment initiation showed a significantly lower
mortality chance in patients receiving O2 only than those who needed
non-invasive and/or mechanical ventilation (ORadj=3.91;
95%CI=1.64-9.32). The start time (early vs late administration) and
duration (less or more than 7 days) of antiviral treatment had no
statistically significant association with mortality or ventilation
escalation among the patients (p-value > 0.05). Conclusion:
In this study, we showed that Remdesivir probably is not effective on
the outcome of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.