Clinical benefit of remdesivir in rhesus macaques infected with SARS-CoV-2

Corresponding author: Emmie de Wit

Affiliation: Laboratory of Virology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA; Rocky Mountain Veterinary Branch, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA; Laboratory of Bacteriology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA; Research Technologies Branch, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA; Gilead Sciences, Foster City, CA, USA.

Publication date: this article was published online on June 09, 2020

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2423-5

Highlights

Remdesivir (GS-5734) is a nucleotide analog prodrug with broad antiviral activity, that is currently investigated in COVID-19 clinical trials and recently received Emergency Use Authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration. In animal models, remdesivir treatment was effective against MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV infection. In vitro, remdesivir inhibited replication of SARS-CoV-2. In this article, the researchers investigated the efficacy of remdesivir treatment in a rhesus macaque model of SARS-CoV-2 infection9. In contrast to vehicle-treated animals, animals treated with remdesivir did not show signs of respiratory disease and had reduced pulmonary infiltrates on radiographs and reduced virus titers in bronchoalveolar lavages 12hrs after the first treatment administration. At necropsy, lung viral loads of remdesivir-treated animals were lower and there was a reduction in damage to the lungs.

Nomination Reasons

The data present in this article suggest that therapeutic remdesivir treatment initiated early during infection had a clinical benefit in SARS-CoV-2-infected rhesus macaques, supporting early remdesivir treatment initiation in COVID-19 patients to prevent progression to pneumonia.

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