Gilead Claims ‘Positive Data’ to Come from NIH Trial of Remdesivir | Hacker News Reader

Gilead Claims ‘Positive Data’ to Come from NIH Trial of Remdesivir

nytimes.com

3 pointsvikramkr7 comments

From the article:

"“Unfortunately ... remdesivir did not provide significant benefits over placebo,” said the lead investigator of the new study"

A clinical trials expert at Duke, said ..., “all you can say is it doesn’t seem to work in this population.”

“Remdesivir appears not to be a magic bullet”

“This is a flawed study.”

The press release serves no other purpose than to goose the share price. The virus will stay with us, this isn't the antiviral that we have been hoping for.

Edit: Be careful not to misinterpret the flawed study comment. The "this is a flawed study" comment is not with regards to the NIH trial. It is in regards to the lancet trial, the one that did not show benefit to remdesivir.

It's not working in severe populations, but that study wasn't fully enrolled so we don't know if it was powered enough, which the study in the lancet states. And, it doesn't need to be a magic bullet to be a major step forward in the fight against the drug? The NIH sponsored placebo-controlled trial met its primary endpoint - how is stating that just an attempt to goose the share price? If they are lying about that, then their credibility will be killed. If they are not lying about that, then there is now statistically significant evidence that remdesivir does work in treating COVID-19 patients, likely in less severe patients.

The Lancet study was a randomized trial with > 200 patients that showed no clinical benefits of remdesivir but did reveal some adverse effects. That's worrying. It's not the game changer that azidothymidine was for AIDS/HIV.

The issue with remdesivir in mild cases is that it's expensive to produce (six steps, two at low temperature, outside the capability of many contract shops) and that multigram amounts are required for a course of treatment. It's not what you want to have for that group.

Basically, Gilead is claiming that the NIAID's trial of Remdisivir (an antiviral being tested against COVID-19) met its primary endpoint, and that results will be coming out soon. Looks like this trial is randomized/double-blinded/placebo-controlled, which is awesome. It's the first time we're getting proper, interpretable data on this drug and it looks like it'll be good news.

trying to boost the share price maybe? or as is usual with these things they will hide negative results and/or promote something they consider positive because it helps share price but does nothing for patients.

I don't see how this would work to boost the share price? If they're lying about this data it'll kill them as a company.

They're announcing that the drug worked in the trial that most people have been playing close attention to. That is a randomized controlled trial run by the NIH etc. They're not just saying positive results, they say in their press release that "We understand that the trial has met its primary endpoint and that NIAID will provide detailed information at an upcoming briefing" [0]. That's a clear statistical indication that the drug works. If they're lying about that, it'll kill their credibility and tank their stock.

[0] https://www.gilead.com/news-and-press/press-room/press-relea...

because it isn't the company that wants the share price boosted, if you bought into Gilead a few weeks ago when this drug was first announced then boosting the share price helps the shareholders who aren't in it for the long run

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