Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 24, 2025
Live Imaging and Quantification of Viral Infection in K18 hACE2 Transgenic Mice Using Reporter-Expressing Recombinant SARS-CoV-2
Published on: November 5, 2021
Compassionate Use of Remdesivir for Patients with Severe Covid-19
Jonathan Grein1, Norio Ohmagari1, Daniel Shin1
1From Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles (J.G.), El Camino Hospital, Mountain View (D.S., D. Chelliah), Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital, Santa Rosa (G.G.), Regional Medical Center (A.S., J.R.) and Good Samaritan Hospital (S.M.), San Jose, John Muir Health, Walnut Creek (J.B.), UC Davis Health, Sacramento (S.H.C.), NorthBay Medical Center, Fairfield (S.I.), and Gilead Sciences, Foster City (A.O.O., A.D., Y.Z., L.Z., A. Chokkalingam, E.E., L. Telep, L. Timbs, I.H., S.S., H.C., S.K.T., L.W., P.D., R.M., A.G., R.P.M., D.M.B.) - all in California; the National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo (N.O.), Tokyo Bay Urayasu Ichikawa Medical Center, Urayasu City (R.O.), Hiratsuka City Hospital, Hiratsuka (K.Y.), Yokohama City University Hospital, Yokohama (H.K.), Gunma University Hospital, Gunma (T.M.), and Tosei General Hospital, Seto (Y.M.) - all in Japan; Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, Everett (G.D.), and University of Washington Medical Center-Northwest (M.L.G.) and Virginia Mason Medical Center (S. Chihara), Seattle - all in Washington; Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia (E.A.), IRCCS, San Raffaele Scientific Institute (A. Castagna) and Azienda Socio Sanitaria Territoriale Spedali (ASST) Santi Paolo e Carlo, Department of Health Services, University of Milan (A.D.M.), Milan, National Institute for Infectious Diseases, IRCCS, L. Spallanzani, Rome (E.N.), Università degli Study of Brescia, ASST Civili di Brescia, Brescia (E.Q.-R.), San Gerardo Hospital, ASST Monza, University of Milan-Bicocca, Monza (G.L.), and Azienda Unite Sanitarie Locali-IRCCS, Reggio Emilia (M.M.) - all in Italy; Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany (T. Feldt); Université de Paris, Infection, Antimicrobiens, Modélisation, Evolution (IAME), INSERM, and Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Department of Infectious Diseases, Bichat Hospital, Paris (F.-X.L.), Centre Hospitalier Régional et Universitaire de Brest-La Cavale Blanche, Brest (E.L.), and Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, University Hospital of Bordeaux, Bordeaux (D.N.) - all in France; St. Alexius Medical Center, Hoffman Estates, IL (S.A.); Mackenzie Health, Richmond Hill, ON, Canada (D. Chen); Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York (J.C.); Hospital Universitario La Paz-Carlos III, Instituto de Investigación Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid (M.M.-R.); Bernhoven Hospital, Uden, the Netherlands (E.V.); Kaiser Franz Josef Hospital, Vienna (A.Z.); the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, Washington, DC (R.C.); and Miriam Hospital, Providence, RI (T. Flanigan).
Background:
Remdesivir, a nucleotide analogue prodrug that inhibits viral RNA polymerases, has shown in vitro activity against SARS-CoV-2.
Methods:
We provided remdesivir on a compassionate-use basis to patients hospitalized with Covid-19, the illness caused by infection with SARS-CoV-2. Patients were those with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection who had an oxygen saturation of 94% or less while they were breathing ambient air or who were receiving oxygen support. Patients received a 10-day course of remdesivir, consisting of 200 mg administered intravenously on day 1, followed by 100 mg daily for the remaining 9 days of treatment. This report is based on data from patients who received remdesivir during the period from January 25, 2020, through March 7, 2020, and have clinical data for at least 1 subsequent day.
Results:
Of the 61 patients who received at least one dose of remdesivir, data from 8 could not be analyzed (including 7 patients with no post-treatment data and 1 with a dosing error). Of the 53 patients whose data were analyzed, 22 were in the United States, 22 in Europe or Canada, and 9 in Japan. At baseline, 30 patients (57%) were receiving mechanical ventilation and 4 (8%) were receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. During a median follow-up of 18 days, 36 patients (68%) had an improvement in oxygen-support class, including 17 of 30 patients (57%) receiving mechanical ventilation who were extubated. A total of 25 patients (47%) were discharged, and 7 patients (13%) died; mortality was 18% (6 of 34) among patients receiving invasive ventilation and 5% (1 of 19) among those not receiving invasive ventilation.
Conclusions:
In this cohort of patients hospitalized for severe Covid-19 who were treated with compassionate-use remdesivir, clinical improvement was observed in 36 of 53 patients (68%). Measurement of efficacy will require ongoing randomized, placebo-controlled trials of remdesivir therapy. (Funded by Gilead Sciences.).
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:23Acute Respiratory Failure-IV
01:28Acute Coronary Syndrome IV: Interprofessional Care
01:21Acute Respiratory Failure-II
The underlying physiological abnormalities that contribute to hypoxemic respiratory failure include:
01:21Acute Respiratory Failure-I
Definition: It is defined by specific criteria based on blood gas measurements. Hypoxemia happens when the partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2) falls below 60 mmHg. At the same time,...
01:30Acute Respiratory Failure-III
01:29Acute Respiratory Failure-V
Ensure that patients are monitored continuously for their response to therapy, including changes in...