Remdesivir

Remdesivir was a strange choice to see among early treatment attempts because renal failure was a known side effect, and COVID-19 has a high mortality risk multiplier for people with renal failure.¹⁾ However, Chinese researchers claimed early to have tested it in vitro on SARS-CoV-2 with promising results.

See remdesivir for prior research and side effects profile.

According to the National Institute of Health, remdesivir has “shown to be safe for patients” and “works by interrupting production of the virus. Coronaviruses have genomes made up ribonucleic acid (RNA). Remdesivir interferes with one of the key enzymes the virus needs to replicate RNA. This prevents the virus from multiplying.”²⁾ The NIH gives no citations for these statements.

No prospective clinical trials have been conducted through 2021 examining viral loads of patients given remdesivir. One retrospective study was published showing no difference in nasopharyngeal viral loads of hospitalized patients treated using remdesivir as compared with those who were not.³⁾

The summary of published research suggests that remdesivir does improve patient outcomes. The early treatment studies show dramatic reduction in hospitalization and death, though the late treatment studies show modest reduction in mortality of around 13% to 19% despite increasing the need for hospitalization by 36% and mechanical ventilation by 38%. ⁴⁾

The seven total randomized control trials testing for mortality effects of over 8,000 patients found an 8% overall reduction in mortality among patients treated with remdesivir.⁵⁾