Clinical outcomes of remdesivir-treated COVID-19 patients in South Korea

OBJECTIVES: This study analyzed the clinical outcomes of remdesivir treatment in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in South Korea. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study involved the secondary analysis of epidemiological data. Among patients diagnosed with COVID-19 from July 2, 2020 to March 23, 2021 (12 AM), 4,868 who received oxygen therapy and were released from isolation after receiving remdesivir treatment were assigned to the treatment group, and 6,068 patients who received oxygen therapy but not remdesivir were assigned to the untreated group. The study subjects included children under the age of 19. The general characteristics and severity were compared between the groups. Differences in the time to death and mortality were also compared. RESULTS: In the untreated group, the hazard ratio [HR] for mortality was 1.59 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.40–1.80) among patients aged ≥70 years and 2.32 (95% CI, 2.00–2.69) in patients with severe disease in comparison to the treatment group. In a comparison of survival time among patients with severe disease aged ≥70 years, the HR for mortality before 50 days was 2.09 (95% CI, 1.77–2.46) in the untreated group compared to the treatment group. CONCLUSION: Patients with remdesivir treatment showed better clinical outcomes in this study, but these results should be interpreted with caution since this study was not a fully controlled clinical trial.