Remdesivir for Treatment of Severe COVID-19: Expert Reviews Latest Evidence

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently updated its Therapeutics and COVID-19: living guideline to include the conditional recommendation for the use of remdesivir (Veklury^®; Gilead Sciences) in patients with severe COVID-19 and the conditional recommendation against its use in those with critical COVID-19. Previously, the WHO conditionally recommended remdesivir for patients with non-severe COVID-19. The update was mainly driven by results from the large WHO-sponsored randomized control trial, SOLIDARITY. The study analyzed the effects of remdesivir and 3 other antiviral drugs on in-hospital mortality among patients with COVID-19.

Patient Care Online sat down with Elizabeth Sapey, BSc, MBBS, PhD, professor of Acute and Respiratory Medicine at the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing at the University of Birmingham, to further discuss the WHO’s therapeutic guideline update. Below, Dr Sapey discusses findings from the SOLIDARITY trial and how the results compare with similar research.

Elizabeth Sapey, PhD, Director, Institute of Inflammation and Aging, Consultant in Respiratory Medicine and General Internal Medicine, Birmingham Acute Care Research Group, University of Birmingham