Remdesivir (Veklury) for the Treatment of COVID-19 in the Inpatient Setting

Several drug treatments for COVID-19 caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are approved for use in Canada. This systematic review evaluated the efficacy and safety of remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalized adult and adolescent patients from settings within the health care systems in Canada or from countries with economies similar to Canada. We also characterized which hospitalized patients are most likely to benefit from treatment with remdesivir.

Remdesivir may be effective in reducing the need for mechanical ventilation in hospitalized patients. The studies demonstrating this finding lacked clinical evidence for some of the key populations of interest and had varying definitions of the clinical end points. The generalizability of these findings may be affected by the difference in vaccination status among participants, the dominant COVID-19 variant during the study periods, and the comparability of the standard of care across studies.