The World Health Organization has recommended against using Gilead Sciences Inc.’s remdesivir to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients less than a month after U.S. regulators granted the drug a speedy approval.
"There is currently no evidence that it improves survival or the need for ventilation,” a panel of WHO-convened experts developing COVID-19 treatment guidelines said in The BMJ medical journal.
The recommendation is a blow to Gilead’s drug, which was one of the first thought to offer a meaningful benefit in treatment of coronavirus patients after a study showed it reduced their recovery time. The antiviral has been used widely to treat COVID-19 and was among the drugs U.S. President Donald Trump received when he was diagnosed with the disease in early October.
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