Clinical Outcomes and Survival Analysis of Remdesivir as a Treatment Option for Moderate to Severe COVID-19 Patients

Background: Remdesivir is a broad-spectrum antiviral approved as promising medicine worldwide for deadly pandemic COVID-19 disease. The debate of its efficacy is interesting between different studies with consideration of several factors. We planned this study to evaluate a huge clinical outcome (primary composite outcome) of mortality rate, need for MV, and escalation of care among Remdesivir (RDV) and non-Remdesivir (NoRDV)groups.Methods: Patients with a PCR - confirmed diagnosis of moderate and severe COVID-19 were observed retrospectively as two comparative groups, before and after including remdesivir in the treatment protocol, from August 2020 to February 2021.Result: From 509 hospitalized patients; 35% received Remdesivir among them 64% were severe patients. Median age, 59 years, was equal in both groups, and there was no significant difference between the two groups regarding gender, baseline characteristics, and co-morbidities. Unlike, the median hospital length of stay was lower among the RDV group (8 days) than the NoRDV (9 days), P= 0.004.The composite outcome occurred in 17.7% in RDV and 22.2% in NoRDV but the difference was statistically insignificant (p-value 0.289). Adjusted logistic regression showed a non-significant lower association of the composite outcome with RDV use (OR 0.623, 95CI% 0.37-1.02), and a significant reduction occurred in patients Conclusion: Despite controlling all patient characteristics, treatment with RDV did not show any improved impact on patient outcomes over other antivirals and standard care. There is a pressing need for further studies to explore and evaluate new therapeutic approaches or combinations.