(Yicai Global) April 24 -- US biotech firm Gilead Sciences has refuted a research report posted by accident on the World Health Organization’s website that said clinical trials of its antiviral drug Remdesivir have failed to show therapeutic effects on Covid-19 patients. The company’s share price plunged.

Randomized double-blind controlled trials of Remdesivir on 237 severe cases of the novel coronavirus carried out at Wuhan Jinyintian Hospital did not show positive results, the report said.

Test data shows that Remdesivir has potential therapeutic effects on Covid-19, the California-based firm said. The study was inconclusive due to low enrollment, it added.

Shares of Gilead [NASDAQ:GILD] closed down 4.34 percent yesterday at USD77.78 each, after earlier retreating as much as 8.5 percent.

The report was a draft version meant for Chinese researchers and was posted on the website by mistake, WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said. It was removed immediately, he added. Cao Bin, vice-president of Beijing’s China-Japan Friendship Hospital and leader of the study, has yet to comment.

Clinical trials of Remdesivir, which showed good results in the treatment of the first Covid-19 patient in the US, have been running into difficulties due to a lack of sufficiently ill patients. Earlier this month, a second clinical trial in China was paused after two months because of a scarcity of participants.

The status of the study on adults with mild and moderate symptoms has been changed to 'suspended,' US database site Clinical Trials said on April 16. "The epidemic of Covid-19 has been controlled well at present, no eligible patients can be recruited," it added.

There are multiple Phase Three clinical trials ongoing around the world, Gilead said, adding that results should be released in the next few weeks.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor