Today's news :- WHO rejects remdesivir use for virus Kate...

Today's news :-
WHO rejects remdesivir use for virus


Kate Kelland
London
Pharmaceutical company Gilead’s drug remdesivir should not be used for patients hospitalised with COVID-19, regardless of how ill they are, as there is no evidence the drug improves survival or reduces the need for ventilation.
The advice from the World Health Organisation is another setback for the drug, which grabbed worldwide attention as a potentially effective treatment for the disease after early trials showed some promise.
‘‘The ... panel found a lack of evidence that remdesivir improved outcomes that matter to patients,’’ the guideline from the WHO said.
‘‘Especially given the costs and resource implications associated with remdesivir ... the panel felt the responsibility should be on demonstrating evidence of efficacy, which is not established by the currently available data,’’ it added.
The antiviral, known by the brand name Veklury, is one of only two medicines currently authorised to treat COVID-19 patients across the world. But a large WHO-led test known as the Solidarity Trial showed last month that it had little or no effect on 28-day mortality or length of hospital stays for patients.
The medication was one of the drugs used to treat US President Donald Trump’s coronavirus infection, and had been shown in previous studies to have cut time to recovery. It is authorised or approved for use as a COVID-19 treatment in more than 50 countries.
Gilead has questioned the Solidarity Trial’s results and said in a statement it was ‘‘disappointed’’ at the new WHO guideline. ‘‘Veklury is recognised as a standard of care for the treatment of hospitalised patients with COVID-19 in guidelines from numerous credible national organisations,’’ it said.
The WHO advice raises questions about whether the European Union will need the 500,000 courses of the antiviral, worth €1 billion ($1.6 billion), it ordered last month.
The European Commission said it had taken note of the updated guideline but that ‘‘at the moment, there are no changes’’ to its authorisation for the drug.
It said the region’s drugs regulator, the European Medicines Agency, had requested the full data from the Solidarity Trial and would ‘‘assess the evidence [...] together with other available data, to see if any changes are needed’’.
Italy’s drugs regulator, AIFA, said it had been ‘‘stressing for weeks the modest effectiveness of remdesivir’’.
‘‘In practice we have been saying for some time that it is not of use for much,’’ a spokeswoman said.
The WHO’s Guideline Development Group panel said its recommendation was based on an evidence review that included data from four international randomised trials involving more than 7000 patients hospitalised with COVID-19. Reuters