
68% Improvement in Covid 19 Patients Treated with Remdesivir - thomasjudge
https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa2007016?articleTools=true
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vikramkr
Very promising early results. The caveats for non scientists to be aware of is
that these are not randomized trials with a placebo and all - this is just
through a mechanism called "compassionate use" that allows Gilead to give
people the drug. Also, 68% of patients improved, the title implies that
patients say a 68% improvement in their symptoms which is not the case, the
68% is the number of patients improved divided by total number of patients. To
get a good picture of how much the drug improves outcomes compared to not
having the drug administered, we need large placebo controlled randomized
trials so we can get the statistical signal to see if it works and how well it
works. As the paper states, those trials are underway.

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HarryHirsch
It's a good start, certainly good for Gilead and the wealthy who can afford
it. The trouble is that the synthesis is a multistep horror that is difficult
to scale up. There is a step to install the nitrile group, which seems to be
required, which takes place at dry-ice temperature. And you need gram amounts
per patient and the drug comes as a lyophilized powder, to be reconstituted
and taken by injection.

Not a game-changer, when you have millions infected, many in poor parts of the
world.

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foobarbazetc
_Yawn_...

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dang
Please don't do this here.

