A coronavirus drug which initially failed in Chinese trials is now working and could help end lockdown restrictions, scientists have said. Remdesivir, a broad-spectrum antiviral, was developed more than a decade ago to cure an unknown “Disease X” and is currently being trialled on patients in the NHS. In results published in The Lancet on Wednesday, Chinese scientists said the drug worked no better than placebo. But less than 24 hours later, US health officials reported that their own trial, on more than 1,000 severely ill patients in 75 hospitals around the world, had seen recovery times cut from 15 days to 11, and mortality rates fall by nearly 30 per cent. British scientists involved in the UK trials said the results were “exciting” and, once rolled out, the drug could help lessen the need for lockdown restrictions by removing the burden on the NHS and cutting deaths. Patients who were being given placebo in the British trials are now being moved on to remdesivir.
