Remdesivir and Hydroxychloroquine: A Compassionate Use in Covid-19

Abstract

Objective: Early in December 2019, mass sufferers due to Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia (SARS-CoV-2) in Wuhan (China) roused worldwide concern. Hardly any drugs showed the light of hope concerning the depletion in the period of treatment, and virological suppression became ineffective. Furthermore, numerous sufferers have undergone off-label use or compassionate use treatments as well as antiretroviral, antiparasitic agents, anti-inflammatory compounds, and convalescent plasma in either oral/parenteral route. This study aims to compile and analyze the effectiveness of Remdesivir and Hydroxychloroquine and give an insight into their drug profile in the treatment and management of COVID-19 patients. Method: Relevant literature was searched from PubMed, Crossref, Springer, Bentham Sciences, Google Scholar, DOAJ, ScienceDirect, and MEDLINE by using keywords like COVID-19, SARS-- COV-2, Remdesivir, and Hydroxychloroquine. Appropriate peer-reviewed articles were studied and compiled for this review paper. The figures were prepared by using ChemOffice 2016 (Chem- Draw Professional 2016) and Microsoft Office. Results: This study indicates that 5 out of 10 works of literature find that Remdesivir leads to a reduction in recovery time, and the remaining 5 pieces of literature found Remdesivir to have no variance and have limitations. However, 6 out of 12 articles presented an increased chance of survival or reduction in recovery time due to hydroxychloroquine, while the remaining 6 presented hydroxychloroquine having no effect. Conclusion: There is a need to assess more pharmacokinetics and randomized controlled trials (RCT) for both remdesivir and hydroxychloroquine. Furthermore, studies should be conducted in different combinations along with hydroxychloro-quine and remdesivir to get efficient results.