Gilead COVID-19 Drug Being Trialed, But Consumers Want A Vaccine

Wall Street is rallying on news that Gilead Sciences’ experimental drug remdesivir shows good results treating COVID-19 patients, but most consumers tell PYMNTS that they won’t get back to normal life without a vaccine.

Almost two months into the quarantine in some locations and 34.9 percent of consumers said the broad release of a vaccine is the most important factor in making them feel comfortable to go back to work. In addition, 26.9 percent said a vaccine would be vital to making them resume their leisurely activities.

While there is no approved COVID-19 therapy in place, the National Institutes of Health is organizing trials of multiple medications, as well as other treatments, such as remdesivir. COVID-19 patients who have been receiving remdesivir have been making fast recoveries – and many have returned home from the hospital in a matter of days.

A University of Chicago infectious disease specialist who is heading up the clinical trial, Dr. Kathleen Mullane, said in a video as reported by CNN, “The best news is that most of our patients have already been discharged, which is great. We’ve only had two patients perish.” But the university said per the report that her comments are comprised of partial information.

It said per the outlet that “partial data from an ongoing clinical trial is by definition incomplete and should never be used to draw conclusions about the safety or efficacy of a potential treatment that is under investigation.”

According to PYMNTS data, the development of a vaccine led in all categories as the element that would make consumers comfortable getting back to business as usual except for travel. In that case, 28 percent of consumers indicated that a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declaration that travel is safe would be the most pivotal factor in encouraging them to do so, with that factor marginally edging out a vaccine, which 26.3 percent of consumers favored.

Popular motivators per PYMNTS data are also the development of treatments for COVID-19 and a marked drop in the number of cases. To read more of our findings, click here.

Shares of Gilead were up by more than 7.5 percent at approximately 2 P.M. Eastern Time on Friday (April 17). The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by roughly 400 points.