The first sign of a good pharmaceutical intervention for COVID-19! A properly conducted randomized control trial (RCT) using Remdesivir has shown that its use accelerates recovery from infection. While it is too soon to see if it also helps lower mortality, the data is certainly trending that way.
The trial was stopped early, because the evidence was so clear that it was beneficial for patients and they wanted to get the patients, who were receiving the saline placebo, onto the treatment. This is the type of breakthrough that was needed to keep more people out of the ICU and get them out of hospital sooner.
A second study, using a therapeutic monoclonal antibody is also showing real promise as well and I hope the data from that trial is released soon. These two treatments when used together could be a game changer for the course of infection!
Erin S. Bromage, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Dr. Bromage graduated from the School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences James Cook University, Australia where his research focused on the epidemiology of, and immunity to, infectious disease in animals. His Post-Doctoral training was at the College of William and Mary, Virginia Institute of Marine Science in the Comparative Immunology Laboratory of late Dr. Stephen Kaattari.
Dr. Bromage’s research focuses on the evolution of the immune system, the immunological mechanisms responsible for protection from infectious disease, and the design and use of vaccines to control infectious disease in animals. He also focuses on designing diagnostic tools to detect biological and chemical threats in the environment in real-time.
Dr. Bromage joined the Faculty of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 2007 where he teaches courses in Immunology and Infectious disease, including a course this semester on the Ecology of Infectious Disease which focused on the emerging SARS-CoV2 outbreak in China.