None of the four drugs studied was superior to placebo.

The aim of this special feature is to review therapeutic options for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.

In this group of patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19, most of whom required invasive ventilation, 68% showed clinical improvement after treatment with remdesivir on a compassionate-use basis.

The first remdesivir double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial for treating COVID-19 was published recently in Lancet. A member of the trial’s data safety monitoring board is Weichung Shih, PhD. Shih discussed the role of biostatisticians in protecting data integrity for clinical trials and the challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Remdesivir is safe and moderately effective in the treatment of patients with COVID-19.

Under a federal emergency authorization, remdesivir can be used to treat suspected or laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in children or adults who are hospitalized with severe disease.

In this group of patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19, the majority of whom required invasive ventilation, 68% showed clinical improvement after treatment with remdesivir on a compassionate-use basis.