Remdesivir New Trial for Covid-19 Starts in The UK With Hopes of Shortening Recovery Time

The impact of novel coronavirus has been devastating, severely impacting the entire world. It has not only affected employment, but the businesses are also bleeding cash as all the sources of the revenue have been impacted. Amid all this, the primary concern of the whole world is to find a potential vaccine to cure the deadly virus. The whole world is waiting impatiently when an active drug or vaccine would be there for the treatment of the novel coronavirus patient. Many companies and health care institutions are working round the clock to discover a perfect cure in the form of either vaccine or drug, which can be helpful to prevent the impact of the novel coronavirus. During such a situation, the United Kingdom government announced on 26th May 2020 that it is going to launch a new trial of potential medicine “Remdesivir” on some COVID-19 patients. Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, applauded the decline in countrywide coronavirus deceased as he declared that death rate has decreased in the last six weeks and confirmed the trail of Remdesivir.

As per the World Health Organisation update, around 314,190 patients have lost the battle in the fight against novel coronavirus across the globe till date. The United Kingdom is placed at the fourth most affected nation position by the World Health Organisation, where nearly 265,231 infected cases have been found till 28th May 2020.

The Health Secretary of the UK Matt Hancock, has disclosed that the drug, Remdesivir, has delivered encouraging outcomes and could substantially reduce the recovery duration to four days. Just a week ago, the US National Institutes of Health had stated that data from its trial of Remdesivir had delivered most promising results for novel coronavirus patients who required additional oxygen but did not have to put on mechanical air circulations. The investigators also stated that people are recouping well with the use of Remdesivir drug. The medicine would probably be more productive with other treatments for novel coronavirus such as the breathing sickness initiated by the COVID-19.

The data collected from the affected due to Covid-19, states that death from the disease is exceptionally high among patients with cohabiting conditions of hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Also, the danger is heightened for those who reach the point of requiring intrusive mechanical ventilation.

Remdesivir (GS-5734), from Gilead Sciences, is an RNA polymerase inhibitor with potent antiviral activity in vitro and efficacy in pathogenic animal and human models of Covid-19. Remdesivir has shown nanomolar in vitro activity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in human airway epithelial cells and clinical and virologic efficacy in a primate model of SARS-CoV-2. Gilead Sciences on 29th April 2020, announced that Remdesivir had given positive results in the two medical experiments while treating infected patients.

Although various approved drugs and trial agents have shown antiviral progress against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro,6,7, but currently there are no antiviral therapies of established efficacy in curing the severely ill patients with COVID-19.

In the last week of April 2020, AstraZeneca and Oxford University had also declared a landmark contract for prevention of infections of novel coronavirus and development of the vaccine. As per the AstraZeneca company information, the agreement between them had the aim to cure the affected patient with the active vaccine known as ChAdOx1 novel coronavirus, which is being produced by the Oxford Vaccine Group and Jenner Institute, at Oxford University. However, the company also discovered that the vaccine has mild side effects such as Flu-like signs, pain or sore arm and temperature.

An associate professor at Leeds University, Stephen Griffin appreciated the initiative the usage of Remdesivir and stated that the most affected novel coronavirus patients would be treated with this medicine. The UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock also said that it is undoubtedly the significant step forward since the advent of the coronavirus.

Different Medical experiment on drugs and vaccine with regards to novel coronavirus

Most of the nations are constantly looking for effective vaccine and drugs which can stop the spread and cure the novel coronavirus at the earliest possible. As per the media report, hundreds of clinical trials have already been initiated on infected people in the last couple of months for novel coronavirus treatments. Let’s talk about a few of the possible treatment methods which are being explored by the healthcare fraternity.

• Arthritis Medicine: Tocilizumab from Roche, which is an arthritis drug, has shown some initial potential in the halting severe irritation in patients having novel coronavirus signs. This trail was made in French clinic, which was initiated by the Paris Public Hospitals Group.

• Hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine: The US Food and Drug Administration had just endorsed Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine drugs. These drugs are used for treating Lupus, Malaria and Rheumatoid joint inflammation. It is being said that these medications could be beneficial for coronavirus patients, as was found in the ongoing examination. However, the World Health Organization has stated that it has provisionally stopped the use of hydroxychloroquine due to safety concern.

• Japan flu drug – As per some reports, Fujifilm Toyama Chemical has created Japan Flu Medicine in Japan. This drug has shown excellent results in the treatment of novel coronavirus. This antiviral drug is called favipiravir or Avigan, it has been used for the treatment of influenza in Japan. In March, the drug was accepted as a trial treatment for the novel coronavirus infection.

• Antiviral EIDD-2801: As per the journal Science Translational Medicine, the oral drug, i.e. EIDD-2801, has shown some progressive outcomes. It is assumed that this medication is as capable as Remdesivir pill. In the latest research, the scientist found that EIDD-2801 medication hosts genetic alterations into the virus's RNA and then RNA produces its copies so that the virus is not able to link a virus to cells.

• The combination of HIV medications: The antiviral medication Kaletra, combined with lopinavir and ritonavir, has resulted in prompt recuperation. However, the information published on 18th March 2020 from china found that this combination could not result in any significant difference when patients took the medication. The trail was made on 199 patients, which showed no improvement on the patient.

• Trimer-Tag technology: The antiviral medication Kaletra, combined with lopinavir and ritonavir, caused prompt enthusiasm. However, the information published on 18th March 2020 from china found that this combination could not notice an advantage when patients took the medication. The trail was made on 199 patients, which showed no improvement on the patient.