AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — New data from human trials of a COVID-19 drug show it can speed up recovery time in patients.
Wednesday, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases released the data from remdesivir trials, including one with the University of Colorado School of Medicine and UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital.
The data shows that remdesivir, an antiviral drug that Gilead Sciences originally developed to fight Ebola, can decrease the recovery time of coronavirus patients by nearly 1/3, from 15 days to 11 days.
“The data shows that remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery. This is really quite important,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the NIAID.
The trials started in February, and about a month ago, CU became involved. To date, 31 patients from UCHealth have been a part of the trial.
“It’s very exciting,” said Dr. Thomas Campbell, a professor at the CU School of Medicine and part of a team that’s leading the trial at UCHealth. “This may change things for patients with COVID-19 in that we may now have a proven effective treatment.”
Doctors and scientists are quick to point out – this is the initial data from the first human study of remdesivir on COVID-19 patients. It has not been peer reviewed yet. The trials of the drug are continuing.
“This is certainly not the end of the COVID epidemic,” Campbell said. “It’s important to continue to conduct research.
“It may not, in the end, prove to be the best treatment. I think what’s important is that it’s the first treatment and we can build on it from here.”
The Food and Drug Administration is currently considering an emergency approval for remdesivir.