WHO panel recommends against use of remdesivir for COVID-19 patients

A World Health Organization (WHO) panel recommended against using remdesivir in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 because there is no evidence it improves survival.

The recommendation breaks with the Trump administration, as remdesivir recently became the only drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

The WHO panel also found the drug, which is delivered intravenously, had no real impact on whether patients would need to be put on ventilators.

The recommendation from the WHO Guideline Development Group was published late Thursday night in the international journal The BMJ.

The recommendation was based on data from four international randomized trials involving more than 7,000 patients hospitalized for COVID-19.