Hennepin Healthcare launches two clinical trials to study the investigational antiviral drug remdesivir to treat hospitalized patients with COVID-19

Minneapolis, Minn. – April 9, 2020 – The Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute (HHRI) has launched two clinical trials to study the safety and efficacy of remdesivir to treat hospitalized patients diagnosed with moderate or severe COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.  Hennepin Healthcare is a clinical site for the international multi-center randomized trials.

Remdesivir, developed by Gilead Sciences, Inc., is an investigational antiviral treatment previously tested in humans with Ebola. It has shown antiviral activity against Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), in vitro and in animal models. MERS and SARS are caused by other coronaviruses.

Approximately 1,000 patients around the world will be enrolled in the initial phase of the remdesivir studies in countries where COVID-19 is prevalent. HHRI anticipates enrolling up to 70 patients in these trials at this site.

“We are proud to be a site that’s conducting research on this investigational treatment,” said HHRI’s Principal Investigator Jason Baker, MD, MS. “The clinical trials will help to determine if remdesivir is a safe and effective drug that can improve outcomes for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 here at Hennepin Healthcare and in the broader community.”

 ###

Remdesivir Research FAQs

###

About the Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute

Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute (HHRI) is the research arm and a nonprofit subsidiary of Hennepin Healthcare System, Inc., an integrated healthcare system that includes HCMC, a nationally recognized Level 1 Trauma Center and acute care and teaching hospital. HHRI is one of the largest nonprofit medical research organizations in Minnesota and consistently ranks in the top 10 percent of all institutions receiving research funding from the National Institutes of Health. For more information about research at HHRI, visit hhrinstitute.org.

Media Contact:

Susan O’Reilly
Corporate Communications Manager
Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute
soreilly@hhrinstitute.org
612.873.5321