Remdesivir Trials in China Suspended Due to Recruitment Issues

As the desperate search for a COVID-19 treatment continues, two phase 3 trials in China of Gilead’s remdesivir as a treatment have been suspended due to the lack of eligible patients. Meanwhile, multiple trials of the drug in the U.S. and Europe are going forward.

In China, one trial in adults with severe COVID-19 only enrolled just over half of its 452-enrollment target. The second trial for mild-to-moderate cases aimed to enroll 308 patients but fell short of that number.

Both trials began in February and were suspended weeks before their anticipated close-out dates. An update posted to Clinicaltrials.gov said the mild-to-moderate trial was suspended because the epidemic “has been controlled” and “no eligible patients can be recruited.”

Despite the setback in China, multiple trials continue to evaluate Gilead’s antiviral as a possible COVID-19 treatment. Earlier this week, the company reported that remdesivir showed clinical improvement in two-thirds of COVID-19 patients in a study at Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Hospital (DID, April 14).

The National Institutes of Health has expanded its phase 2 clinical trial into a phase 3 trial being conducted at 54 study sites across the U.S. and in several other countries. Remdesivir is also in an arm of the World Health Organization’s multinational SOLIDARITY trial (DID, March 19).

Gilead also recently launched two phase 3 clinical trials of the drug in the UK, and is conducting multiple clinical trials around the world, including Asia and France (DID, April 7). — Jordan Williams