Effect of remdesivir on patients with COVID-19: A network meta-analysis of randomized control trials

Abstract

Several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were conducted to investigate the effect of remdesivir for patients with COVID-19, but their results were conflicting. Thus, we conducted a network meta-analysis comparing the rate of clinical improvement among patients with COVID-19 who received 5-day course of remdesivir versus 10-day course of remdesivir versus standard care. Our network meta-analysis of 4 randomized controlled trials demonstrated that the rate of clinical improvement was significantly higher in the 5-day remdesivir group and 10-day remdesivir group compared to standard care group (OR [95% confidence interval [CI]] =1.89 [1.40-2.56], P <0.001, OR [95% CI] =1.38 [1.15-1.66], P <0.001, respectively). In addition, the rate of clinical improvement was significantly higher in the 5-day remdesivir group compared to the 10-day remdesivir group (OR [95% confidence interval [CI]] =1.37 [1.01-1.85], P =0.041). Our analysis demonstrated that the use of remdesivir for patients with COVID-19 was associated with the significantly higher clinical improvement rate compared with standard care alone.