Health Ministry 'not satisfied' with efficacy of Remdesivir, Favipiravir to fight COVID-19

India's Health Ministry is not sure of the effectiveness of Remdesivir and Favipiravir to fight COVID-19. A meeting was held with representatives from ICMR, NCDC, DCGI, WHO representatives, AIIMS, DGHS, Ministry of animal husbandry, were present to discuss the usage of the drug.

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'Not satisfied'

ANI quoted a government offical saying, "The technical committee has not found these two antiviral drugs fit for the usage in the covid19 treatment because there is no concrete evidence to determine the efficacy of the drugs. The countries which have used these two antiviral drugs did not show good results on the coronavirus patients. Neither, it reduced the mortality rate nor it reduces the hospitalization time. Till the time, we only recommend hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as prophylaxis of COVID in selected individuals. It includes asymptomatic healthcare workers involved in the care of suspected or confirmed cases of COVID, asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases, a combination of HCQ with Azithromycin on patients with severe disease and requiring ICU management."

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According to a statement from US-based National Institutes of Health (NIH) released earlier,  the Coronavirus drug trial results suggested a survival benefit, with a mortality rate of 8% for the group receiving Remdesivir versus 11.6% for the placebo group. The mortality benefit of Remdesivir has not yet reached statistical significance.

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Claiming that the drug will be the 'standard of care' , Dr. Anthony Fauci who is the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, “When you know a drug works, you have to let people in the placebo group know, so they can take it."

Dr. Fauci had earlier said that the data from the trial showed the antiviral drug Remdesivir has a “clear-cut significant positive effect in diminishing time to recovery.” The time to recovery for patients taking the drug is 11 days, compared with 15 days in the placebo group.

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