(Adds Tedros quote, background)
GENEVA, Oct 16 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization
said on Friday it would assess monoclonal antibodies and other
antiviral drugs in its trial of potential COVID-19 treatments,
after the trial found Gilead Science's remdesivir had
no impact on survival rates.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said its
Solidarity Trial would continue after it was launched in March
in 500 hospitals in 30 countries to assess the efficacy of
remdesivir and several other drugs in patients with COVID-19.
"The Solidarity Trial is still recruiting about 2,000
patients every month and will assess other treatments, including
monoclonal antibodies and new antivirals," Tedros told a news
conference.
The Solidarity Trial was at the centre of a dispute on
Friday between the WHO and Gilead, the U.S. company that
developed remdesivir, which said the WHO trial's findings
appeared inconsistent with evidence from other studies.
(Reporting by Mike Shields, Stephanie Nebehay and Kate Kelland;
Editing by Edmund Blair)