04-29-2020, 11:31 AM
(04-29-2020, 10:27 AM)Goalpost Wrote: Some good medical news today. Gilead Sciences drug REMDESIVIR has shown positive results. It is not a vaccine but a treatment. The drug was given to patients 'advanced' with the disease with good results. This might be the 1st test that has passed positively under the strict guidelines that a person like Fauci or Birx would approve of. It is now in Phase 3 trials with hopeful intentions to be fast tracked. So important were the results that Gilead was actually halted on the stock market this morning. This might be a game changer. The fear with the virus is that to many it could be a death sentence but now an actual treatment could diffuse some of this. The drug is not new. Just one that has passed so far strict testing.
This is important: remdesivir has shown "positive results" according to the manufacturer who has a vested interest in selling remdesivir.
Remdesivir is an anti-viral medication similar to oseltamivir which you know as Tamiflu prescribed for the flu. Tamiflu is mostly post marketing hype by the manufacturer and its efficacy has been called into question by the Cochrane Review.
It is also important to note this study compared a 5 day course of remdesivir to a 10 day course. It doesn't prove remdesivir works compared to a placebo. It just indicates a 5 and 10 day course of remdesivir have the same outcome. Their results haven't even been submitted for peer review, yet.
So it isn't a double blind study. It isn't placebo controlled. It isn't peer reviewed. This doesn't come close to the standards Fauci or Birx would approve of.
And this is from the manufacturer:
https://www.gilead.com/news-and-press/press-room/press-releases/2020/4/gilead-announces-results-from-phase-3-trial-of-investigational-antiviral-remdesivir-in-patients-with-severe-covid-19
Quote: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. This study sought to determine whether a shorter, 5-day course of remdesivir would achieve similar efficacy results as the 10-day treatment regimen
Their results showed time to recovery in 50% of patients was 10 days if they took 5 days of remdesivir and 11 days if they took 10 days of redesivir.
Another way you can interpret that result; the longer you take remdesivir, the longer it takes for you to recover. Or if you take their drug for a shorter period of time you get better quicker which is counter-intuitive. But, that in no way proves it is effective.