A California biotech company said its experimental drug remdesivir improved symptoms when given for five days to moderately ill, hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
Gilead Sciences gave few details on Monday but said full results would soon be published in a medical journal.
Remdesivir is the only treatment that’s been shown in a rigorous experiment to help fight the coronavirus. A large study led by the National Institutes of Health recently found it could shorten average recovery time from 15 days to 11 days in hospitalized patients with severe disease.
The company-led study involved nearly 600 patients who had moderate pneumonia but did not need oxygen support. All were randomly assigned to get five or 10 days of the drug plus standard care, or standard care alone. Patients and their doctors knew who was getting what, a factor that limits the objectivity of the results.
By the 11th day in the study, those on five days of remdesivir were 65% more likely to see improve by at least one on a seven-point scale that included measures such as needing treatment with a breathing machine, Gilead said.