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Real-world evidence on the effectiveness of remdesivir shows it significantly reduces hospitalisation or death from COVID-19 by 84% in high-risk patients.

The findings from a prospective cohort study challenge the drug’s controversial past and support results from an earlier randomised-controlled trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine that treatment with remdesivir (Veklury), administered intravenously in patients with an increased risk of progression, avoids hospitalisation and death.

In the current study published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, the researchers included 126 high-risk (immunocompromised) patients diagnosed with Omicron variant COVID-19. Forty three percent received remdesivir and 57% did not.

Baseline clinical characteristics were similar between groups except for age. The remdesivir group were significantly older which is an important risk factor for disease severity. The most common immunocompromising conditions were autoimmune diseases, solid organ transplants and malignant neoplasms.