On Feb. 21, 2023, Gilead Sciences announced positive data from three retrospective real-world studies which demonstrated that initiation of Veklury (remdesivir) within the first two days of hospital admission can help reduce mortality and hospital readmission rates among all patients hospitalized with COVID-19, regardless of disease severity.

A reduction in mortality was also observed in vulnerable populations, such as people living with cancer or HIV. These studies evaluated routine clinical practice data from more than 800 hospitals throughout the United States to gain insights on patient outcomes as COVID-19 continues to evolve over time.

Two studies analyzed clinical practice information from the U.S. Premier Healthcare databases of more than 500,000 adult patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The overall analysis examined all-cause inpatient mortality rates at 14- and 28- days and demonstrated that initiation of Veklury within the first two days of hospital admission was associated with a statistically significant lower risk for mortality in all oxygen levels compared to matched controls that did not receive Veklury during their hospitalization for COVID-19.

For patients with no documented use of supplemental oxygen at baseline, treatment with Veklury was associated with a 19% lower risk of mortality at Day 28. Patients on low-flow or high-flow oxygen also had a 21% and 12% lower risk of mortality at Day 28, respectively. Patients on invasive mechanical ventilation/ECMO at baseline had a 26% reduced risk for mortality at Day 28.

These findings were observed throughout all variant time periods, including Omicron, in patients who did not require supplemental oxygen and across all levels of supplemental oxygen use, including those on invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV)/ECMO.