COVID-19: Antiviral drug reduces risk of developing severe symptoms by 87%

The Remdesivir It is a drug that fights the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease. Thanks to scientific research, the drug has been shown to prevent the virus from reproducing and there are drug regulatory agencies such as the United States FDA, Argentina’s ANMAT, and those of Brazil and Mexico, among 46 other countries, which have authorized the use of remdesivir in emergencies to treat people with COVID-19. It is administered intravenously.

Now, a new international study led by Spanish researchers has found more benefits of remdesivir for patients with risk factors for the coronavirus. The study included the participation of the Foundation for the fight against AIDS and Infectious Diseases, IrsiCaixa and the Infectious Diseases Department of the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital.

It has shown that the administration of the drug Remdesivir intravenously during the 3 days after the diagnosis of COVID-19 reduces the risk of hospitalization by 87% in people at risk of severe illness.

In addition, they noted through a statement that the administration of the drug also reduced the number of medical visits related to the disease by 81%. Disease-related adverse reactions were reduced from 7.1% in untreated patients to 3.6% in patients receiving the antiviral.

A total of 562 unvaccinated people at high risk of transmitting COVID-19 severely for different reasons, such as diabetes, obesity or hypertension, participated in the clinical trial. During the study, participants were divided into two groups: one who received Remdesivir three days in a row right after being diagnosed with COVID-19 and another who, instead of the antiviral drug, received a placebo.

The entire group of participants was monitored for 28 days and assessed whether they required hospitalization. In this way, the research team suggested that the Remdesivir works by preventing the progression of the disease and reduces the risk of developing serious illness requiring hospitalization, and even death, by 87%.

According to the head of the infectious diseases department of the Germans Trias i Pujol university hospital and co-author of the study, Roger Paredes, with these data, “the effectiveness of antiviral treatment with Remdesivir has been shown to reduce complications of SARS-CoV. 2 and so this could be a very good tool to avoid the collapse of intensive care units and avoid emergency situations like the one we experienced in hospitals. The effect is greater than that detected with other antiviral drugs in the early stages of the disease ”.

Although currently the drug can only be administered intravenously, Dr Paredes said that “work is underway on an oral formulation of this compound which will greatly facilitate treatment in primary care settings.” Can Ruti’s infectious disease department is evaluating other oral antivirals that will provide more alternatives for patients.

In the clinical trial, the northern metropolitan primary care of the Catalan Institute of Health (ICS) also collaborated. It will be presented at the International Conference on Infectious Diseases IDWeek, which will run from October 29 to 3 hosted by the American Society for Infectious Diseases.

Remdesivir was originally developed to treat hepatitis C and was later studied for Ebola virus disease and Marburg virus infections, before being studied as a post-infection treatment for COVID-19. Last April, remdesivir was approved by Argentina’s National Administration of Drugs, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT).

It is only allowed to be administered intravenously in a hospital setting. The clearance granted was based on evidence from three randomized controlled trials, including the phase 3 ACTT-1, a double-blind, placebo-controlled study conducted by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) .

These studies had suggested that Remdesivir could reduce inpatient recovery time by five days compared to placebo, potentially freeing up much-needed hospital time and resources during the current pandemic. Also have shown that the antiviral has greater benefit when used in moderately ill patients in the early stages of disease progression, before the need for mechanical ventilation.

“At the start of the pandemic, studies began with different existing drugs. The first antivirals to try are lopinavir and ritonavir, which have shown no benefit. Later, remdesivir began to be studied as an antiviral against COVID-19, which is a nucleocide that inhibits virus replication by slowing or blocking the enzyme RNA polymerase, to achieve that the RNA is not replicated in the organism ”, explained to Infobae infectologist Isabel Cassetti, director of Helios Salud, after authorization of the drug in Argentina.

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