Hopes dashed as Coronavirus drug fails first trial

(FASTNEWS | COVID-19) – A potential antiviral drug for the coronavirus has reportedly failed in its first randomised clinical trial.

There had been widespread hope that remdesivir could treat Covid-19.

But a Chinese trial showed that the drug had not been successful, according to draft documents accidentally published by the World Health Organization.

The drug did not improve patients’ condition or reduce the pathogen’s presence in the bloodstream, it said.

The US firm behind the drug, Gilead Sciences, said the document had mischaracterised the study.