Treatment with the antiviral drug remdesivir does not increase the risk of adverse cardiac events in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, according to newly published results of the DisCoVeRy Trial, a randomized control trial of outcome seen in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 infections.
The study, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, compared outcomes among 857 participants hospitalized between March 2020 and January 2021 in France, Belgium, Portugal, Austria, and Luxembourg. A total of 429 received a 9-day course of remdesivir treatment compared to those who received standard care.
By day 29 of the trial, 11.2% in the remdesivir group and 11.3% in the control group experienced an adverse cardiac event, representing no statistical difference.
No differences in deaths
The authors said there were no significant differences between groups regarding serious (hazard ratio [HR] 1.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.8 to 2.4) and non-serious adverse events (HR 0.7; 95% CI: 0.4 to1.4).
There were 39 deaths in the remdesivir group and 46 in the control group, and 9 patients in each group experienced an adverse cardiac event prior to death. The adverse events were not determined to be the cause of death for any patients in the remdesivir group, and for only 1 patient in the control group.
In contrast to other studies, the authors wrote that they found "no significant differences in the arrhythmic event rates between the two groups, regardless of severity."
No significant differences in the arrhythmic event rates between the two groups, regardless of severity.
In an editorial on the study, Robert Gottlieb, MD, PhD, and Andre Kahil, MD, MPH, write that the findings of this study should, "dispel apprehension and overcome impediments to the indicated use of remdesivir, a safe antiviral therapy that reduces mortality in patients hospitalized for COVID-19."