Report: Gilead's experimental drug Remdesivir led to 'rapid' recovery in coronavirus patients

In this March 2020 photo provided by Gilead Sciences, rubber stoppers are placed onto filled vials of the investigational drug remdesivir at a Gilead manufacturing site in the United States. In this March 2020 photo provided by Gilead Sciences, rubber stoppers are placed onto filled vials of the investigational drug remdesivir at a Gilead manufacturing site in the United States. Photo: Gilead Sciences Photo: Gilead Sciences Image 1 of / 74 Caption Close Report: Gilead's experimental drug Remdesivir led to 'rapid' recovery in coronavirus patients 1 / 74 Back to Gallery

Remdesivir, an experimental antiviral drug made by the Bay Area's Gilead Sciences, reportedly had a successful clinical trial in Chicago.

The Boston Globe's STAT News reported Thursday that Dr. Kathleen Mullane, an infectious disease specialist at University of Chicago Medicine overseeing the hospital's remdesivir studies, informed other faculty members that the results of the trials were encouraging.

Gilead's two Phase 3 clinical trials involved 125 people with the coronavirus, with 113 of those cases classified as "severe." All the patients were treated with daily infusions of remdesivir.

“The best news is that most of our patients have already been discharged, which is great," Mullane reportedly said on a video call. "We’ve only had two patients perish."

Mullane stated that most of the patients were discharged after six days, something STAT News deemed a "rapid" recovery when compared to the typical length of hospitalization required for severe COVID-19 cases.

However, the Chicago trial did not include a placebo group for comparison, and Mullane warned not to jump to conclusions — yet. Still, Mullane believes that the results are quite encouraging.

"Certainly, when we start [the] drug, we see fever curves falling,” she said. “Fever is now not a requirement for people to go on trial. We do see when patients do come in with high fevers, they do [reduce] quite quickly. We have seen people come off ventilators a day after starting therapy. So, in that realm, overall our patients have done very well.”

Similar clinical trials are under way at other hospitals across the country, but no other results have been released to this point.

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Eric Ting is an SFGATE digital reporter. Email: eric.ting@sfgate.com | Twitter:@_ericting