Solidarity trial finds no joy in antiviral drugs
Interim results from the World Health Organization’s highly anticipated Solidarity trial appear to show that none of the four repurposed antiviral drugs tested have a meaningful effect in reducing COVID-19 deaths, the need for ventilators or the duration of hospitalization. The trial investigated remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, a lopinavir–ritonavir combo and interferon beta-1a. The randomized study was conducted in 405 hospitals across 30 countries and involved 11,266 people. “The unpromising overall findings from the regimens tested suffice to refute early hopes, based on smaller or non-randomized studies, that any will substantially reduce inpatient mortality, initiation of ventilation or hospitalization duration,” say the interim results.
There had been encouraging findings from other large clinical trials of remdesivir earlier in the year. The drug’s maker, Gilead, told the Financial Times that “the emerging data appear inconsistent with more robust evidence from multiple randomised, controlled studies validating the clinical benefit of [remdesivir]”.
The WHO’s findings mean that the cheap and widely available steroid dexamethasone is the only drug to have been convincingly shown to reduce deaths among people seriously ill with COVID-19.
CNBC | 5 min read & Financial Times | 5 min read (paywall)Reference: Repurposed antiviral drugs for COVID-19 — interim WHO SOLIDARITY trial results (not peer reviewed)
There had been encouraging findings from other large clinical trials of remdesivir earlier in the year. The drug’s maker, Gilead, told the Financial Times that “the emerging data appear inconsistent with more robust evidence from multiple randomised, controlled studies validating the clinical benefit of [remdesivir]”.
The WHO’s findings mean that the cheap and widely available steroid dexamethasone is the only drug to have been convincingly shown to reduce deaths among people seriously ill with COVID-19.
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