MUST READ! COVID-19 Drugs: Study Shows That Remdesivir Not Effective To Treat Moderate COVID-19 Patients

COVID-19 Drugs: Remdesivir has so far emerged as another controversial drug that was approved by the US FDA under the Trump administration for emergency use despite the fact that it not clearly demonstrated its efficacy against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus nor was there any long term safety studies ever conducted on it use. It was granted approval merely on the basis that it shortened hospitalization periods of severe ill patients that were on ventilators but it never improved even mortality rates! Subsequent studies that tried to fill in the gaps were construed by some being manipulated to a certain degree and that big pharma money was at play. But nevertheless some individuals must have made money as the drugs were priced at more than US$3,500 in the United States and Europe whereas the generic versions are have now even fallen to as low as US$23 in India per dose and American initially bough half a million doses and still buying more  at the inflated prices.


 
A new clinical study finds the drug might not be as effective for 'moderate' cases of COVID-19 patients hospitalized and perhaps needing oxygen to breathe, but not requiring a ventilator.
 
The study findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2769871?resultClick=1
 
The clinical study of nearly 600 COVID-19 patients with moderate conditions found that those who got a five-day course of remdesivir had a "statistically significant difference in clinical status compared to standard care, but the difference was of uncertain clinical importance," according to researchers led by Dr Diana Brainard of Gilead Sciences, which makes remdesivir.
 
A leading infectious disease expert believes the findings may temper the excitement that first emerged around remdesivir.
 
Dr Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore told media, "This study highlights that remdesivir clearly is not a path-breaking drug when it comes to the treatment of COVID-19, as its benefits are marginal."
 
Dr Adalja believes the findings "underscore the need to develop antivirals and other therapies that can meaningfully impact the trajectory of COVID-19 patients."
 
The pharma giant Gilead is currently seeking US FDA approval for remdesivir, which is available now on an emergency basis for hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19. If the FDA approves it, however, the drug would gain wider use.
 
However there is already growing concerns by medical professionals and doctors on the front lines as the drug has not lived up to its published expectations.
 
Gilead claims that remdesivir works by blocking the virus from copying itself but this has not been clearly demonstrated in studies.
 
Trials of the drug showed that it can cut recovery time from COVID-19 by nearly a third in people with severe COVID-19.
 
In the case of moderate coronavirus cases, Dr Brainard's group looked at 584 hospitalized patients who received either five days of remdesivir administered intravenously; 10 days on the same regimen, or standard care without remdesivir.
 
Most of the patients averaged 57 years of age and 61% were men. More than half had heart disease and 40% were diabetic. All of the patients had moderate COVID-19, which was defined as the presence of pneumonia evidenced on lung scans along with low blood oxygen levels.
 
It was observed that 28 days after treatment began, four patients (2%) in the standard care group had died, compared to three (2%) who got 10 days of remdesivir and two (1%) who got the five-day regimen.
 
However at 11 days, a statistical benefit in terms of a "better clinical status" on a 7-point scale was only seen among those who got five days of remdesivir- this group had a 65% higher odds of an improved outcome compared to those who got standard care, the researchers said.
 
Improvements were not dramatic and of "uncertain clinical importance," Dr Brainard's team noted.
 
Gilead is saying that more study is needed and "there may still be a role for remdesivir in certain patient subgroups in which the benefits may be more apparent."
 
Numerous medical professionals are saying after reading over the report that while they  agreed that remdesivir might help some patients with severe COVID-19,  there was a very small benefit for the ones taking the five-day course in this study of people with moderate illness.
 
Many also noted the caveat ie the drug's hefty price tag. In late June, Gilead announced that it would charge US hospitals between US$ $3,120 to US$ 3700  for a five-day course of remdesivir in a patient with private insurance.
 
Doctors are saying that remdesivir is extremely costly, and not every hospital is able to consistently stock it and before hospitals rush to buy the drug, more study is definitely required.
 
America under the Trump administration has been playing very dangerous games with the lives of Americans and also others around the world as most other countries are still dumb enough to assume that medical standards are still high in America and tend to follow blindly developments in America when in reality it is now questionable. First it was chloroquine and hydroxychloriquine and then remdesivir, the substandard diagnostics testing and also a an expedited convalescent plasma therapy programme  (which the US FDA quietly stopped last week)and  vaccine programme that seems to be compromising safety standards. America has now sunk to the similar standards as the scammers from China making substandard products and claims. It is now being rumored that a toxic supplement called Oleandrin might next be approved by the US FDA to treat COVID-19 as the new majority shareholder of the biotechnology company that is making it, who was a former drug addict with a string of police cases turned pillow millionaire cum born again Christian that many describe as a con-artist, is a close friend of President Donald Trump! (That is the state of America these days while millions are still getting infected and thousands are dying each day! As of Sunday, more than 180,182 Americans have died from the COVID-19 disease while more than 5.8 million were officially reported as being infected with the disease. (source: Worldometer ) Figures are expected to rise exponentially the coming months.
 
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