Efficacy of remdesivir-containing therapy in hospitalized COVID-19 patients: a prospective clinical experience (preprint)

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT Objectives remdesivir is currently approved for the treatment of COVID-19. The recommendation for using remdesivir in COVID-19 was based on the in vitro and in vivo activity of this drug against SARS-CoV-2. Methods this was a prospective, observational study conducted on a large population of patients hospitalized for COVID-19. The primary endpoint of the study was to evaluate the impact of remdesivir-containing therapy on 30-day mortality; secondary endpoint was the impact of remdesivir-containing therapy on the need of high flow oxygen therapy (HFNC) or non-invasive ventilation (NIV) or mechanical ventilation. Data were analyzed after propensity score matching. Results 407 patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia were consecutively enrolled. Out of these, 294 (72.2%) and 113 (27.8%) were respectively treated or not with remdesivir. Overall, 61 (14.9%) patients were treated during hospitalization with non-invasive or mechanical ventilation, while a 30-day mortality was observed in 21 (5.2%) patients with a global in-hospital mortality of 11%. Cox regression analysis, after propensity score matching, showed that therapies, including remdesivir-containing therapy, were not statistically associated with 30-day survival or mortality, while need of HFNC/NIV (HR 17.921, CI95% 0.954-336.73, p=0.044) and mechanical ventilation (HR 3.9, CI95% 5.36-16.2, p=0.003) resulted independently associated with 30-day mortality. Finally, therapies including or not remdesivir were not independently associated with a lower or higher risk of HFNC/NIV or mechanical ventilation. Conclusions this real-life experience about the remdesivir use in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 was not associated with significant increase in rates of survival or reduced use of HFNC/NIV or mechanical ventilation, compared to patients treated with other therapies not including remdesivir.