NIH to Study Remdesivir-Like Compound for COVID-19

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) said it plans to study an investigational antiviral from Gilead Sciences that proponents believe may offer significant advantages over remdesivir as a possible COVID-19 treatment.

GS-441524, the main plasma metabolite of remdesivir, showed antiviral activity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in laboratory studies that appear to be similar or superior to remdesivir, and it is better suited for oral and inhaled delivery, and easier to manufacture, according to an Aug. 4 letter to NIH from the advocacy group Public Citizen and the MD Anderson Cancer Center that urged the NIH to evaluate GS-441524 as a potential COVID-19 treatment.

In an Aug. 22 response, Christopher Austin, director of the NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, agreed that the compound “merits further exploration” and said the center will independently conduct preclinical studies.

“We expect to conduct these studies quickly and make the results available to the research community for further consideration,” Austin said.

The lead author of the Aug. 4 letter, Michael Abrams, health researcher at Public Citizen, said he hopes that Gilead will work with the NIH on these studies, “even if it means the company may reap lower profits than expected from the marketing of remdesivir.”

Gilead did not respond to a request for comment.

Read the two letters here: www.fdanews.com/08-25-20-NCATS.pdf. — Jordan Williams