Clinical studies assessing the efficacy, effectiveness and safety of remdesivir in management of COVID‐19: A scoping review

Pimentel, Juan; Laurie, Cassandra; Cockcroft, Anne; Andersson, Neil

AIMS: Remdesivir is 1 of the repurposed drugs under investigation to treat patients with COVID‐19. Clinicians and decision‐makers need a summary of the most recent evidence. This scoping review maps the evidence on the efficacy, effectiveness and safety of remdesivir for patients with COVID‐19, up to 14 September 2020. METHODS: Our scoping review searched Pubmed, Embase (Ovid), Scopus and 17 primary trial registries for empirical publications or active registered clinical trials for data on the efficacy, effectiveness, or safety of remdesivir for COVID‐19 or SARS‐CoV‐2. We conducted a narrative synthesis of the included publications. RESULTS: Seventeen empirical studies and 23 clinical trial registrations (n = 40) accumulated 46 508 participants. We found 4 published randomized–controlled trials accumulating 2293 patients. Two trials reported shorter median recovery time and better clinical status among patients who received remdesivir compared with the control groups. Observational studies report an association between remdesivir treatment and decreased mortality, as well as increased survival. The most common adverse reaction was hepatic impairment, although the trials reported a similar proportion of adverse events in the intervention and control groups. CONCLUSION: Remdesivir might shorten the time to clinical improvement among hospitalized adults with severe COVID‐19. Trial data report a similar proportion of adverse events in treated and control groups. The results of the 23 registered active trials, including more than 30 000 participants, will shed light on the efficacy and safety of the antiviral. The findings of the remaining clinical trials expected to report results in 2020 will allow a quantitative synthesis of available evidence.