The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a conditional recommendation against the use of remdesivir in hospitalized patients, regardless of disease severity, citing a lack of evidence that remdesivir improves survival and other outcomes in these patients.
This recommendation is part of a living guideline on clinical care for COVID-19. It was developed by an international guideline development group, which includes 28 clinical care experts, 4 patient partners and 1 ethicist. Data reviewed by the panel included results from the Solidarity Trial, as well as 3 other randomized controlled trials. In all, data from over 7000 patients across the 4 trials were considered. The evidence suggested no important effect on mortality, need for mechanical ventilation, time to clinical improvement, and other patient-important outcomes.
The guideline development group recognizes that more research is needed, especially to provide higher certainty of evidence for specific groups of patients. They support continued enrollment in trials evaluating remdesivir.
World Health Organization (WHO). WHO recommends against the use of remdesivir in COVID-19 patients [news release]. November 20, 2020. Available at: click here. Accessed November 20, 2020.