Gilead Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company based in Foster City, California, today has announced that their drug remdesivir is showing promising results in a limited trial in patients with COVID-19.  But the company points out that remdesivir is not yet licensed or approved anywhere globally and has not yet been demonstrated to be safe or effective for the treatment of COVID-19.

The study was comparing a 5-day intravenous course of remdesivir with a 10-day intravenous course in around 397 patients worldwide.  The study was looking at rates of adverse events plus additional needed clinical response, as well as deaths and adverse impacts.   Gilead said the 5-day course had similar results as the 10-day course, which would mean the available supply of remdesivir would last longer if the 5-day course is effective.

Patients were required to have evidence of pneumonia and reduced oxygen levels that did not require mechanical ventilation at the time of study entry.

Gilead has only preliminary results, with more expected by the end of May, and says it plans to submit the study for peer review in the coming weeks.

Additionally, Gilead says it plans to expand the initial trial of 397 patients to more than 5,000 at 180 sites around the world in coming weeks.  It also says it’s beginning a second trial to include 600 patients with more moderate symptoms of COVID-19.

In other news about remdesivir, Dr. Anthony Fauci spoke at the White House on Wednesday morning about a randomized, placebo-controlled trial conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which he heads.  He said the NIAID trial was one of the most high-powered trials yet and showed that remdesivir has promise as a treatment (not a vaccine) in both shortening hospitalization time and in lowering the death rate.