The World Health Organization advised against using remdesivir to treat patients hospitalized with COVID-19, citing a recent WHO-sponsored study that suggested the treatment provides no health benefits. The WHO study was larger but less rigorous than the US-based ACTT-1 trial that found the treatment did lower US medical costs even though it didn’t improve survival. By considering ACTT-1 data and remdesivir’s expanded label to include less severely ill patients, a recent update to the ICER-COVID model determined a health-benefit price benchmark of $2,470 for patients hospitalized with moderate-to-severe disease and $70 for patients hospitalized with milder disease. Read more here.
(Source: Hsu Jeremy. Covid-19: What now for remdesivir? BMJ 2020; 371 :m4457)
