Tests have shown the effectiveness of the drug against Ebola for treating patients with severe coronavirus. After its use, the condition of 68% of patients improved, some of them were able to do without mechanical ventilation devices
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The test results of remdesivir, which was used to treat patients with coronavirus, showed that the drug can help in the fight against infection. This is stated in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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The study involved 53 patients from the United States, Europe and Canada. All of them needed respiratory support. At the same time, about half of the patients were on mechanical ventilation, and four had a heart-lung machine connected. The article says that the data from eight more patients were not included in the final report: one due to a mistake in the dosage of the medicine and seven due to a lack of information about their well-being.
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As part of a program that allows the use of drugs with an unconfirmed effect, when there are no other treatment options, people received remdesivir for up to 10 days. Over 18 days, the condition of 68% of patients improved, and 17 out of 30 participants who had previously been on artificial lung ventilation could do without mechanical ventilation. Almost half of the patients were discharged, 13% died, experts say. These were mainly those who were on the ventilator.
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According to one of the authors of the article, Jonathan Greine, it is too early to draw final conclusions about the effectiveness of the drug with coronavirus, Bloomberg writes. “However, the monitoring of this group of hospitalized patients who received remdesivir is encouraging,” said Greine in a statement from Gilead Sciences, which developed a drug that was originally designed to treat Ebola-related diseases.
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Several large-scale clinical trials are underway to evaluate the effectiveness of remdesivir in patients with Covid-19, the agency notes. The results of one of them, which are performed in China, will be announced later this month. Gilead Sciences itself is sponsoring two more trials. “When studying remdesivir, the question is not only whether it is safe and effective against Covid-19, but also about which patients it helps, how long they should receive treatment, and at what stage of their disease the treatment will be most effective.” – said the CEO of the company Daniel O’Day.
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Additional materials
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The latest news on the coronavirus pandemic can be found here.
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