Short-course Early Outpatient Remdesivir Prevents Severe Disease due to COVID-19 in Organ Transplant Recipients During the Omicron BA.2 Wave.

ABSTRACT

Solid organ transplant recipients (SOTr) remain at risk of severe COVID-19. Several previous early therapies are no longer effective against new circulating variants. We performed a prospective cohort study in outpatient adult SOTr during the Omicron BA.2 wave (April-May 2022), to determine the effectiveness of 3 doses of remdesivir given within 7 days of symptoms onset. Patients were followed for at least 30 days. The primary outcome was hospitalization. Of 210 SOTr that had COVID-19, we included 192. The median age was 54.5 years and 61.5% were men. The most common transplants were kidney (41.7%), lung (19.3%), liver (18.8%), and heart (6.3%). Most patients (90.1%) had previously received ≥3 COVID-19 vaccine doses. Fifteen(7.8%) were hospitalized, 5(2.6%) required supplemental oxygen, 3(1.6%) ICU admission, and 2(1%) mechanical ventilation with 2(1%) deaths. Age and multiple comorbidities were risk factors for hospitalization. Early remdesivir significantly decreased the hospitalization rate adjusted hazard ratio 0.12 (95%CI 0.03 to 0.057). The adjusted number needed to treat to prevent one hospitalization was 15.2 (95%CI 13.6 to 31.4). No patient that received early remdesivir needed ICU admission or died. In a cohort of SOTr with COVID-19 infection, administration of 3-dose early remdesivir independently reduced the disease severity.