Potential COVID-19 Drug Failed a Human Trial, Leaked Test Results Suggest
Remdesivir was "not associated with a difference in time to clinical improvement."
Web Desk - The experimental coronavirus treatment remdesivir has failed in its first randomized clinical trial, inadvertently released results showed Thursday, dampening expectations for the closely watched drug.
But Gilead Sciences, the company behind the medicine, disputed how the now-deleted post had characterized the findings, saying the data showed a "potential benefit."
The summary said the Chinese trial involved 237 patients, with 158 on the drug and 79 in a control group. Remdesivir was stopped early in 18 patients because of side effects.
The authors said remdesivir was "not associated with a difference in time to clinical improvement" compared to the control.
After a month, 13.9 percent of the patients on remdesivir had died compared to 12.8 percent of those in the control group.
The difference is not statistically significant.
The WHO told the Financial Times that the draft is undergoing peer review and was published early in error.
Trials continue
A spokesman for Gilead told AFP: "We believe the post included inappropriate characterizations of the study," saying it was terminated early due to low enrolment and was therefore not statistically meaningful.
"As such, the study results are inconclusive, though trends in the data suggest a potential benefit for remdesivir, particularly among patients treated early in disease," the spokesman added.
