Remdesivir has 'little effect' on Covid-19 death risks, WHO study reveals

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Remdesivir does not improve Covid-19 survival odds, a large World Health Organisation (WHO) trial of it and three other treatments has ruled.

More than 11,200 hospitalised Covid-19 patients around the world were treated with remdesivir - an antiviral - lopinavir, hydroxychloroquine, interferon or a placebo for the WHO's massive SOLIDARITY trial.

None of the drugs "substantially affected" mortality risks, the dismal report found.

It's a blow to hopes that the world is getting better at treating people affected in the pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than a million people globally, including more than 217,000 in the US.

SOLIDARITY's findings are particularly grim news for the US, where remdesivir is one of just two treatments to have gotten emergency Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorisation.

US government research suggested the drug improved survival odds and shortened recovery times.

The federal government has already amassed a stockpile of the drug, and regulators revoked emergency approval for another drug found ineffective for treating coronavirus by the WHO trial, hydroxychloroquine, in June.

This is a developing story.