A few days back, a research conducted by a team of scientists had suggested that antiviral medication Remdesivir could be effective in treating coronavirus. Daniel O'Day, CEO of Remdesivir developer Gilead also revealed that several COVID-19 patients had shown considerable improvement after taking Remdesivir. However, this experimental coronavirus drug has now flopped in its first randomized clinical trial.
Coronavirus chaos to continue
A report regarding Remdesivir's ineffectiveness in treating coronavirus is published by the Financial Times, citing draft documents accidentally published by the World Health Organization (WHO). As per the report, Remdesivir failed to improve patients' condition and the drug did not reduce the pathogen's presence in the bloodstream.
Shockingly, the intake of Remdesivir also triggered side effects among several patients. The new clinical trial result has disappointed medical experts, and they now believe that rigorous research should be carried out to find an effective drug to treat coronavirus.
Gilead disputed WHO draft documents
In the meantime, Gilead has disputed the claims made in WHO draft documents that detail the ineffectiveness of Remdesivir in treating coronavirus.
"We believe the post included inappropriate characterizations of the study. As such, the study results are inconclusive, though trends in the data suggest a potential benefit for Remdesivir, particularly among patients treated early in the disease," said a spokesman for Gilead, BBC reports.
Coronavirus mutation elevate risks
A recent study conducted by Chinese researchers had found that the novel coronavirus had already mutated to more than 30 different strains. The research carried out by Professor Li Lanjuan and colleagues from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China revealed that coronavirus has now acquired mutations capable of changing its pathogenicity.
As reports regarding COVID-19 mutation surfaced, experts revealed that the global healthcare sector has literally underestimated the mutation capability of the pathogen. Medical experts also believe that there could be difficulties in finding an overall cure for this deadly pandemic, as coronavirus has already mutated to various strains.
