Wall Street starts erasing gains on WHO document showing Remdesivir flopped first trial

Wall Street's main indexes came under strong selling pressure after a Financial Times report revealed that Gilead's antiviral drug Remdesivir flopped in the first trial.

Citing the World Health Organization's accidentally-published draft document, the Financial Times reported a Chinese trial showed that Remdesivir did not improve patients' conditions or reduce the presence of the pathogen in the bloodstream. 

Although Gilead Sciences said that the draft document posted accidentally by the WHO included “inappropriate characterisations of the study,” markets turned risk-averse.

Market reaction

As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.75% on the day while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were both gaining 0.6%.