The multinational Solidarity Therapeutics Trial organized by the WHO reported today that Remdesivir and 3 other COVID-19 drugs failed to show any positive effect on hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Results have been published in the pre-print (not peer-reviewed) paper at www.medrxiv.org/….
These Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquine, Lopinavir and Interferon regimens appeared to have little or no effect on hospitalized COVID-19, as indicated by overall mortality, initiation of ventilation and duration of hospital stay.
Here is a quick graphical summary of the results -
The large trial was conducted in 40 countries over a 6-month period; it involved 405 hospitals with 11,266 adult volunteers; 2750 were allocated Remdesivir, 954 Hydroxychloroquine, 1411 Lopinavir, 651 Interferon plus Lopinavir, 1412 only Interferon, and 4088 no study drug. Placebos were not used.
Hydroxychloroquine and Lopinavir were discontinued for futility on June 18 and July 4, 2020, respectively; the Interferon trials will cease on October 16.
The results are disappointing to be sure, but let’s keep in mind that these drugs were not developed explicitly for COVID-19; these are re-purposed drugs, developed for other viruses and pathogens, which have shown some positive effects in laboratory testing with the COVID-19 virus. Remdesivir was developed for Ebola, Hydroxychloroquine for Malaria, Lopinavir for HIV and Interferon-β1a for multiple sclerosis.
On the other hand, most of the vaccines and antibody treatments we hear about everyday have been developed explicitly for COVID-19, even if they use protocols and technology developed for other viruses, so there is reason to be optimistic about them.
This leaves Dexamethasone as the only drug that is on the WHO list of drugs that is known to reduce mortality in severely ill patients.
I do not know which other major drugs are in the pipeline, which have been developed afresh for COVID-19 and which may prove to be more effective. It is also possible that these drugs work better on some patients with certain characteristics — such as early or late stage infection or with or without certain preexisting conditions, we do not know.