Saying remdesivir “has no meaningful effect on mortality or on other important outcomes for patients,” an expert panel at the World Health Organization decided not to recommend the drug as a treatment for COVID-19.
Not all health agencies have been onboard with rejecting the drug, however. The U.S. FDA approved remdesivir in October after a National Institutes of Health study showed that it reduced recovery time of hospitalized patients by four days.
The WHO panel said they rejected the drug as a first line treatment after looking at four trials that included a total of 5,000 patients. At least one U.S. health professional, Dr. Peter Bach, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, approved of the WHO’s decision.
According to ZeroHedge, the WHO is suspending the drug from its prequalification list, “something that will effectively make it impossible for developing countries to obtain (it).” ZeroHedge added that remdesivir’s maker, Gilead, is rejecting the WHO’s evaluation of its drug.
SOURCES:
The New York Times November 19, 2020
ZeroHedge November 20, 2020