Gilead’s Remdesivir study on monkeys shows drug reduced lung damage linked to coronavirus

Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug remdesivir has helped to prevent macaques infected with the coronavirus from developing respiratory disease and reduced lung damage associated with the virus, according to a new study on monkeys.

Published in the medical journal Nature, the study involved 12 monkeys infected with the coronavirus, with only six of them given remdesivir intravenously early on in the study. Those that received the Gilead drug had not developed respiratory disease and suffered less lung damage, the study found.

“Our data support early remdesivir treatment initiation in Covid-19 patients to prevent progression to pneumonia,” the authors asserted in the report. However, remdesivir did not appear to reduce the infectiousness of the infected animals.

“Despite the lack of obvious respiratory signs and reduced virus replication in the lungs of remdesivir-treated animals, there was no reduction in virus shedding,” the study added. Clinical trials on humans are ongoing.