First bit of success from a randomized trial of a COVID-19 treatment

Enlarge / A vial of the drug Remdesivir destined for a clinical trial. (credit: ULRICH PERREY/Getty Images)

Today, Dr. Anthony Fauci announced the first potential treatment for COVID-19 had emerged from a randomized clinical trial sponsored in part by the National Institutes of Health. The drug, remdesivir, significantly shortened the recovery time for patients with COVID-19, triggering an ethical clause that allowed the placebo group to receive the real drug. Unfortunately, that cut the trial short before a significant effect on mortality was clear.

Fauci made the announcement while speaking to the press with President Donald Trump in the White House.

Wrong virus, right drug?

Remdesivir was originally developed to target a different virus: Ebola. It works by binding to the enzyme that copies the RNA genome of the Ebola virus. Since our cells don't need to make copies of RNA, the hope has been that we can find drugs that target the viral enzyme but not any that our own cells need. Testing had already indicated it was safe for general use, suggesting that remdesivir was successful in this regard. Unfortunately, it didn't clearly work against the Ebola virus, leaving it the very large collection of drugs that are safe but ineffective.

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