Covid-19 treatment: Remdesivir may be dropped soon, says Dr DS Rana

New Delhi: A senior doctor from a top Delhi hospital said on Tuesday that Remdesivir, an anti-viral drug used for COVID-19 treatment, is being considered to be dropped from COVID-19 treatment soon.

Dr DS Rana, Ganga Ram hospital chairperson, said that there is no evidence of anti-viral drug’s effectiveness in treating COVID-19 patients.

“If we talk about other medicines which we use in COVID treatment, there is no such evidence regarding Remdesivir that works in Covid-19 treatment. Medicines that do not have any activity to work, will have to be discontinued”, said Dr Rana.

“All the experimental medicines, be plasma therapy (which is now discontinued) or Remdesivir, all of them may be dropped soon as there is no such evidence of its functioning. Right now only three medicines are working…Right now, we all are examining and mointoring. The medical fraternity is trying to gather more information, by the time you gain full knowledge about this pandemic, I think it will be over,” he added.

The announcement comes amid high demand for the anti-viral drug in the face of the deadly second wave of coronavirus that is sweeping the country.

AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guleria recently said that the anti-viral drug is not a magic bullet. According to him, the drug could in fact cause harm if given too early or too late.

The government latterly dropped the off-label use of convalescent plasma as it was found not useful in reducing the progression to severe disease or death.

The decision was taken at the advice of the ICMR-National Task Force for COVID-19 as its affiliates urged the removal of the use of convalescent plasma from the guidelines citing its ineffectiveness and inappropriate use in several cases.

Presently, the off-label use of plasma therapy was recommended at the stage of early moderate disease, that is, within seven days of the onset of symptoms and if there is the availability of a high titre donor plasma.

Remdesivir was approved for restricted emergency use in India in June last year for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. It can be sold only with a prescription, in the form of an injection, and only hospitals and pharmacies are allowed to stock it.