ARTICLE: Real-World Effectiveness Of Remdesivir In Adults Hospitalized With Covid-19: A Retrospective, Multicenter Comparative Effectiveness Study
AUTHORS: Brian T Garibaldi, Kunbo Wang, Matthew L Robinson, Joshua Betz, G Caleb Alexander, Kathleen M Andersen, Corey S Joseph, Hemalkumar B Mehta, Kimberly Korwek, Kenneth E Sands, Arielle M Fisher, Robert C Bollinger, Yanxun Xu
JOURNAL: Clin Infect Dis. 2021 Dec 15;ciab1035. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciab1035. Online ahead of print.
Abstract
Background: There is an urgent need to understand the real-world effectiveness of remdesivir in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2.
Methods: This was a retrospective comparative effectiveness study. Individuals hospitalized in a large private healthcare network in the US from February 23, 2020 through February 11, 2021 with a positive test for SARS-CoV-2 and ICD-10 diagnosis codes consistent with symptomatic COVID-19 were included. Remdesivir recipients were matched to controls using time-dependent propensity scores. The primary outcome was time to improvement with a secondary outcome of time to death.
Results: Of 96,859 COVID-19 patients, 42,473 (43.9%) received at least one remdesivir dose. The median age of remdesivir recipients was 65 years, 23,701 (55.8%) were male and 22,819 (53.7%) were non-white. Matches were found for 18,328 patients (43.2%). Remdesivir recipients were significantly more likely to achieve clinical improvement by 28 days (adjusted hazard ratio [1.19, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.16-1.22]). Remdesivir patients on no oxygen (aHR 1.30, 95% CI 1.22-1.38) or low-flow oxygen (aHR 1.23, 95% CI 1.19-1.27) were significantly more likely to achieve clinical improvement by 28 days. There was no significant impact on the likelihood of mortality overall (aHR 1.02, 95% CI 0.97-1.08). Remdesivir recipients on low-flow oxygen were significantly less likely to die than controls (aHR 0.85, 95% CI 0.77-0.92; 28-day mortality 8.4% [865 deaths] for remdesivir patients, 12.5% [1,334 deaths] for controls).
Conclusions: These results support the use of remdesivir for hospitalized COVID-19 patients on no or low-flow oxygen. Routine initiation of remdesivir in more severely ill patients is unlikely to be beneficial.
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