Antiviral Drug Remdesivir Linked to 25% lower death risk in severe Covid-19 patients

Severe COVID-19 patients with kidney disease serious enough to need dialysis had a 25% lower risk of dying within 28 days when they got the antiviral drug remdesivir early, according to a study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases and reported by CIDRAP News.

Researchers from the University of Illinois and Gilead Sciences, the company that makes remdesivir, reviewed medical records for 22,378 of these kidney disease patients and 5,026 separate patients with liver disease, all hospitalized in the US between 2021 and 2025, comparing those who got the drug early against similar patients who did not.

Patients with liver disease saw a similar drop, at 24% lower risk.

Nearly seven in ten patients in each group needed extra oxygen support, and among them, the reduction in death risk held at 25% for kidney disease patients and 26% for liver disease patients.

The benefit was strongest in liver disease patients who did not need oxygen, at 49% lower risk.

For kidney disease patients who didn't need oxygen, the study did not find a statistically reliable difference either way.

Because the study looked back at existing medical records rather than testing the drug on patients directly, and because some of the researchers involved, including the study's corresponding author, work for Gilead, it adds evidence rather than final proof, and independent research would help confirm the finding.

Sources:CIDRAP News, Mary Van Beusekom; Godwin P, et al. Clin Infect Dis. 2026;ciag534. doi:10.1093/cid/ciag534