A leading coronavirus drug candidate showed no benefit in results from a hotly anticipated clinical trial that were mistakenly posted to the World Health Organization’s website today.
The experimental drug, an antiviral called remdesivir, is being studied in several late-stage trials and has recently drawn praise from President Donald Trump after a sliver of early data from a different clinical trial leaked last week.
The draft documents posted to the WHO website — and then quickly removed — suggest that the drug did not help patients enrolled in a randomized clinical trial in China, and caused significant side effects in several people that led them to end treatment. More participants who received remdesivir died compared to those in the control group, although the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant.
Gilead thinks the results were mischaracterized because the study ended early due to low enrollment, spokesperson Sonia Choi said. “As such, the study results are inconclusive, though trends in the data suggest a potential benefit for remdesivir, particularly among patients treated early in disease.”
“We regret that the WHO prematurely posted information regarding the study,” Choi added.
The Financial Times first reported the mistakenly posted results. Gilead’s stock price dropped more than 7 percent in the hours after the news.
Multiple “phase III” remdesivir studies are still ongoing in the U.S., with early results from some expected this month.
