Remdesivir Lowers Risk of Death in Patients with COVID and Kidney or Liver Disease

Risk of death was 25% and 24% lower in patients with kidney and liver disease, respectively, when treated early with remdesivir.

Matt MacKenzie

Sept. 2, 2026

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Key Highlights

Remdesivir use early in hospitalization reduces 28-day mortality by about 25% in patients with kidney or liver disease.
The study analyzed data from over 22,000 patients with kidney disease and 5,000 with liver disease, comparing those who received remdesivir to controls.
Patients with renal or hepatic conditions who received remdesivir showed a 24-28% lower risk of death compared to non-recipients.
Findings support the inclusion of remdesivir in treatment protocols for COVID-19 patients with complex comorbidities.
The research underscores the importance of early antiviral intervention in high-risk hospitalized populations.

A new report published in Clinical Infectious Diseases found that early use of remdesivir (RDV) may reduce the risk of death by 28 days in adults with kidney or liver disease hospitalized with COVID-19. CIDRAP has the news.

Researchers analyzed medical claims and hospital cost data for early RDV initiation among U.S. adults diagnosed with kidney or liver disease and hospitalized for COVID. The patients and non-RDV-receiving controls were stratified by supplemental oxygen.

22,378 patients (11,189 each of RDV participants and controls) had kidney disease, and 5,026 patients (2,513 per group) had liver disease. The kidney cohort included patients who required renal replacement therapy in the year before RDV initiation, and the liver cohort was made up of patients with conditions like liver injury, cirrhosis, liver failure, and noninfectious hepatitis.

The risk of 28-day all-cause in-hospital death was lower among RDV recipients in both the kidney cohort (25% lower) and liver cohort (24%) lower than the controls. This provides additional evidence to support use of RDV to treat COVID-19 in patients with both renal and hepatic comorbidities.