According to a study published in PLoS One, administering remdesivir within seven days of symptom onset led to improvements in the clinical status of hospitalized adults with COVID-19 pneumonia, and prevented their advancements to more serious respiratory disease.

This was apparent by a reduced percentage of people admitted to intensive care unit, and diminished requirement for higher levels of respiratory support like mechanical ventilation. Researchers aimed to determine the impact of the timing of remdesivir therapy (from patient’s symptom appearance) on the clinical outcomes of patients.

This retrospective cohort study recruited people hospitalized with coronavirus disease and segregated them into the following groups: (i) No remdesivir cohort: People who did not receive remdesivir during hospitalization, (ii) Early remdesivir cohort: People who were administered remdesivir within seven days from symptom onset, (iii) Late remdesivir cohort: People who were administered remdesivir at eight days or later from the symptom appearance, mostly due to their delayed hospitalization.

The major endpoint ascertained was the recovery rate of the participant, determined as clinical improvement and participant's discharge by day 14 of symptom appearance. The secondary endpoints were the requirement for intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation requirement, and mortality rate within twenty-eight days of patient's symptom appearance.

Notably, out of 323 hospitalized people infected with coronavirus, 107 (33.1%) did not receive remdesivir during their hospitalization, 107 (33.1%) were given remdesivir early within seven days of symptom appearance, and 109 (33.7%) were given remdesivir at eight days or later of symptom appearance.

On day 14 following symptom appearance, a greater percentage of people recovered in the early remdesivir cohort in comparison with no remdesivir and late remdesivir cohort (adjusted odds ratio, aOR, 2.65), as shown in Figure 1:

Furthermore, early use of remdesivir was linked with a reduced admission to intensive care unit (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.31), reduced requirement for mechanical ventilation support (aHR, 0.22), and decreased mortality at twenty-eight days (aHR, 0.15), in comparison with the no remdesivir and late remdesivir cohort. Thus, early administration of remdesivir to COVID-19 people is associated with a better recovery rate and lower requirement for intensive care unit admission.