Severely ill patients suffering from Covid-19 disease are getting better after a drug made by American company Gilead is administered to them, a new study has concluded.
By Savanna News
Gilead is an American company that researches, develops and commercializes drugs. It focuses on antiviral drugs used in the treatment of hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and influenza, including Harvoni and Sovaldi.
The company has had its drug remdesivir tested on critically ill patients suffering from covid-19. Information on the company website defines remdesivir as an investigational drug that has not been approved by any regulatory authority, and the safety and efficacy of remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19 are not yet known.
The drug had its first trial on 53 patients showing severe symptoms of covid-19.
Chairman and CEO of the company Daniel O’Day said, “The results, which cover 53 of the first patients to have been treated in the program, show that the majority demonstrated clinical improvement after taking remdesivir.”
The report published in the New England Journal of Medicine that tracked 53 people in the U.S., Europe and Canada who needed to be supported order to breathe, with about half of them on a ventilator machine and four on a heart-lung by-pass machine. Eight patients were left out of the analysis, one due to dosage errors and others due to their circumstances which could not draw reliable results.
The patients were administered with remdesivir for up to 10 days on a compassionate use basis, a program that allows people to use unapproved medicines when no other treatment options are available. Over 18 days, 68% of the patients improved, with 17 of the 30 patients on mechanical ventilation being able to get off the breathing device. Almost half of the patients studied were ultimately discharged, while 13% died. Mortality was highest among those who were on a ventilator, with 18% of them dying.
The company is ramping up production, packaging and shipping of remdesivir to support clinical studies in other countries around the world.