Remdesivir-based therapy improved recovery of patients with COVID-19 in the SARSTer multicentre, real-world study

Remdesivir use in COVID-19 103 supportive care was available, but the rapid worldwide spread of COVID-19 has raised a desperate need to invent an antiviral agent active against SARS-CoV-2. At first, the search for an effective therapy focused on drug repurposing and new ways of using approved agents with confirmed activity against other viruses. Among them, a compound of lopinavir and ritonavir was identified. Lopinavir, acting as an inhibitor of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease, coadministered with ritonavir to increase its bioavailability, was demonstrated to have in vitro activity against both SARS-CoVs and MERS-CoVs. 1-5 The positive impact of lopinavir / ritonavir on the clinical outcome and reduction of the viral load in nasopharyngeal swabs was documented in patients participating in an open-label study performed during the outbreak of SARS in 2003. 2,3 Three case reports and a single retrospective study focused Introduction In December 2019, a new pathogen associated with an outbreak of respiratory tract infections was discovered in Wuhan, China. It was identified as a novel coronavirus termed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), closely related to the already known betacoronaviruses responsible for epidemics named with the acronyms SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome). The outbreak of the disease cause by SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), was announced a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020. The clinical spectrum of SARS-CoV-2 infection ranges from asymptomatic or mild, selflimited respiratory tract disease to severe progressive pneumonia leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome and death due to multiorgan failure. At the beginning of the epidemic, only