scholarly journals Direct antivirals working against the novel coronavirus: azithromycin (DAWn-AZITHRO), a randomized, multicenter, open-label, adaptive, proof-of-concept clinical trial of new antivirals working against SARS-CoV-2—azithromycin trial

Trials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iwein Gyselinck ◽  
◽  
Laurens Liesenborghs ◽  
Ewout Landeloos ◽  
Ann Belmans ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The rapid emergence and the high disease burden of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 have created a medical need for readily available drugs that can decrease viral replication or blunt the hyperinflammatory state leading to severe COVID-19 disease. Azithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic, known for its immunomodulatory properties. It has shown antiviral effect specifically against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro and acts on cytokine signaling pathways that have been implicated in COVID-19. Methods DAWn-AZITHRO is a randomized, open-label, phase 2 proof-of-concept, multicenter clinical trial, evaluating the safety and efficacy of azithromycin for treating hospitalized patients with COVID-19. It is part of a series of trials testing promising interventions for COVID-19, running in parallel and grouped under the name DAWn-studies. Patients hospitalized on dedicated COVID wards are eligible for study inclusion when they are symptomatic (i.e., clinical or radiological signs) and have been diagnosed with COVID-19 within the last 72 h through PCR (nasopharyngeal swab or bronchoalveolar lavage) or chest CT scan showing typical features of COVID-19 and without alternate diagnosis. Patients are block-randomized (9 patients) with a 2:1 allocation to receive azithromycin plus standard of care versus standard of care alone. Standard of care is mostly supportive, but may comprise hydroxychloroquine, up to the treating physician’s discretion and depending on local policy and national health regulations. The treatment group receives azithromycin qd 500 mg during the first 5 consecutive days after inclusion. The trial will include 284 patients and recruits from 15 centers across Belgium. The primary outcome is time from admission (day 0) to life discharge or to sustained clinical improvement, defined as an improvement of two points on the WHO 7-category ordinal scale sustained for at least 3 days. Discussion The trial investigates the urgent and still unmet global need for drugs that may impact the disease course of COVID-19. It will either provide support or else justify the discouragement of the current widespread, uncontrolled use of azithromycin in patients with COVID-19. The analogous design of other parallel trials of the DAWN consortium will amplify the chance of identifying successful treatment strategies and allow comparison of treatment effects within an identical clinical context. Trial registration EU Clinical trials register EudraCT Nb 2020-001614-38. Registered on 22 April 2020

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iwein Gyselinck ◽  
Laurens Liesenborghs ◽  
Ewout Landeloos ◽  
Ann Belmans ◽  
Geert Verbeke ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The rapid emergence and the high disease burden of the novel coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 has created a medical need for readily available drugs that can decrease viral replication or blunt the hyperinflammatory state leading to severe COVID-19 disease. Azithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic, known for its immunomodulatory properties. It has shown antiviral effect specifically against Sars-CoV-2 in vitro, and acts on cytokine signaling pathways that have been implicated in COVID-19.Methods: DAWn-Azithro is a randomized, open-label, phase 2 proof-of-concept, multicenter clinical trial, evaluating the safety and efficacy of azithromycin for treating hospitalized patients with COVID-19. It is part of a series of trials testing promising interventions for COVID-19, running in parallel and grouped under the name DAWn-studies. Patients hospitalized on dedicated COVID-wards are eligible for study-inclusion when they are symptomatic (i.e. clinical or radiological signs) and have been diagnosed with COVID-19 within the last 72 hours through PCR (nasopharyngeal swab or bronchoalveolar lavage), or chest CT scan showing typical features of COVID-19 and without alternate diagnosis. Patients are block-randomized (9 patients) with a 2:1 allocation to receive azithromycin plus standard of care versus standard of care alone. Standard of care is mostly supportive, but may comprise hydroxychloroquine, up to the treating physician’s discretion and depending on local policy and national health regulations. The treatment group receives azithromycin qd 500 mg during the first 5 consecutive days after inclusion. The trial will include 284 patients and recruits from 15 centers across Belgium. Primary outcome is time from admission (day 0) to life discharge or to sustained clinical improvement, defined as an improvement of two points on the WHO 7-category ordinal scale sustained for at least 3 days.Discussion: The trial investigates the urgent and still unmet global need for drugs that may impact on the disease course of COVID-19. It will either provide support or else justify the discouragement of the current widespread, uncontrolled use of azithromycin in patients with COVID-19. The analogous design of other parallel trials of the DAWN-consortium, will amplify the chance of identifying successful treatment strategies and allow comparison of treatment effects within an identical clinical context.Trial registration: EU Clinical trials register, EudraCT Nb 2020-001614-38. Start date 2020-04-22.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iwein Gyselinck ◽  
Laurens Liesenborghs ◽  
Ewout Landeloos ◽  
Ann Belmans ◽  
Geert Verbeke ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The rapid emergence and the high disease burden of the novel coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 has created a medical need for readily available drugs that can decrease viral replication or blunt the hyperinflammatory state leading to severe COVID-19 disease. Azithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic, known for its immunomodulatory properties. It has shown antiviral effect specifically against Sars-CoV-2 in vitro, and acts on cytokine signaling pathways that have been implicated in COVID-19.Methods: DAWn-Azithro is a randomized, open-label, phase 2 proof-of-concept, multicenter clinical trial, evaluating the safety and efficacy of azithromycin for treating hospitalized patients with COVID-19. It is part of a series of trials testing promising interventions for COVID-19, running in parallel and grouped under the name DAWn-studies. Patients hospitalized on dedicated COVID-wards are eligible for study-inclusion when they are symptomatic (i.e. clinical or radiological signs) and have been diagnosed with COVID-19 within the last 72 hours through PCR (nasopharyngeal swab or bronchoalveolar lavage), or chest CT scan showing typical features of COVID-19 and without alternate diagnosis. Patients are block-randomized (9 patients) with a 2:1 allocation to receive azithromycin plus standard of care versus standard of care alone. Standard of care is mostly supportive, but may comprise hydroxychloroquine, up to the treating physician’s discretion and depending on local policy and national health regulations. The treatment group receives azithromycin qd 500 mg during the first 5 consecutive days after inclusion. The trial will include 284 patients and recruits from 15 centers across Belgium. Primary outcome is time from admission (day 0) to life discharge or to sustained clinical improvement, defined as an improvement of two points on the WHO 7-category ordinal scale sustained for at least 3 days.Discussion: The trial investigates the urgent and still unmet global need for drugs that may impact on the disease course of COVID-19. It will either provide support or else justify the discouragement of the current widespread, uncontrolled use of azithromycin in patients with COVID-19. The analogous design of other parallel trials of the DAWN-consortium, will amplify the chance of identifying successful treatment strategies and allow comparison of treatment effects within an identical clinical context.Trial registration: EU Clinical trials register, EudraCT Nb 2020-001614-38. Start date 2020-04-22.


Author(s):  
Iwein Gyselinck ◽  
Laurens Liesenborghs ◽  
Ewout Landeloos ◽  
Ann Belmans ◽  
Geert Verbeke ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The rapid emergence and the high disease burden of the novel coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 has created a medical need for readily available drugs that can decrease viral replication or blunt the hyperinflammatory state leading to severe COVID-19 disease. Azithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic, known for its immunomodulatory properties. It has shown antiviral effect specifically against Sars-CoV-2 in vitro, and acts on cytokine signaling pathways that have been implicated in COVID-19.Methods: DAWn-Azithro is a randomized, open-label, phase 2 proof-of-concept, multicenter clinical trial, evaluating the safety and efficacy of azithromycin for treating hospitalized patients with COVID-19. It is part of a series of trials testing promising interventions for COVID-19, running in parallel and grouped under the name DAWn-studies. Patients hospitalized on dedicated COVID-wards are eligible for study-inclusion when they are symptomatic (i.e. clinical or radiological signs) and have been diagnosed with COVID-19 within the last 72 hours through PCR (nasopharyngeal swab or bronchoalveolar lavage), or chest CT scan showing typical features of COVID-19 and without alternate diagnosis. Patients are block-randomized (9 patients) with a 2:1 allocation to receive azithromycin plus standard of care versus standard of care alone. Standard of care is mostly supportive, but may comprise hydroxychloroquine, up to the treating physician’s discretion and depending on local policy and national health regulations. The treatment group receives azithromycin qd 500 mg during the first 5 consecutive days after inclusion. The trial will include 284 patients and recruits from 15 centers across Belgium. Primary outcome is time from admission (day 0) to life discharge or to sustained clinical improvement, defined as an improvement of two points on the WHO 7-category ordinal scale sustained for at least 3 days.Discussion: The trial investigates the urgent and still unmet global need for drugs that may impact on the disease course of COVID-19. It will either provide support or else justify the discouragement of the current widespread, uncontrolled use of azithromycin in patients with COVID-19. The analogous design of other parallel trials of the DAWN-consortium, will amplify the chance of identifying successful treatment strategies and allow comparison of treatment effects within an identical clinical context.Trial registration: EU Clinical trials register, EudraCT Nb 2020-001614-38. Start date 2020-04-22.


Trials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iwein Gyselinck ◽  
◽  
Laurens Liesenborghs ◽  
Ewout Landeloos ◽  
Ann Belmans ◽  
...  

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.


Trials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Diago-Sempere ◽  
José Luis Bueno ◽  
Aránzazu Sancho-López ◽  
Elena Múñez Rubio ◽  
Ferrán Torres ◽  
...  

Abstract Background COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and causes substantial morbidity and mortality. At the time this clinical trial was planned, there were no available vaccine or therapeutic agents with proven efficacy, but the severity of the condition prompted the use of several pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions. It has long been hypothesized that the use of convalescent plasma (CP) from infected patients who have developed an effective immune response is likely to be an option for the treatment of patients with a variety of severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) of viral etiology. The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy and safety of convalescent plasma in adult patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia. Methods/design The ConPlas-19 study is a multicenter, randomized, open-label controlled trial. The study has been planned to include 278 adult patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 infection not requiring mechanical ventilation (invasive or non-invasive). Subjects are randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio (139 per treatment arm), stratified by center, to receive intravenously administered CP (single infusion) plus SOC or SOC alone, and are to be followed for 30 days. The primary endpoint of the study is the proportion of patients that progress to category 5, 6, or 7 (on the 7-point ordinal scale proposed by the WHO) at day 15. Interim analyses for efficacy and/or futility will be conducted once 20%, 40%, and 60% of the planned sample size are enrolled and complete D15 assessment. Discussion This clinical trial is designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of passive immunotherapy with convalescent plasma for the treatment of adult patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The results of this study are expected to contribute to establishing the potential place of CP in the therapeutics for a new viral disease. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04345523. Registered on 30 March, 2020. First posted date: April 14, 2020.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ran Abuhasira ◽  
Irit Ayalon-Dangur ◽  
Neta Zaslavsky ◽  
Ronit Koren ◽  
Mally Keller ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo assess the effect of linagliptin vs. standard therapy in improving clinical outcomes in patients hospitalized with diabetes and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).Materials and MethodsWe did an open-label, prospective, multicenter, randomized clinical trial in 3 Israeli hospitals between October 1, 2020, and April 4, 2021. Eligible patients were adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus and a diagnosis of COVID-19. A total of 64 patients, 32 in each group, were randomized to receive linagliptin 5 mg PO daily throughout the hospitalization or standard of care therapy. The primary outcome was time to clinical improvement within 28 days after randomization, defined as a 2-point reduction on an ordinal scale ranging from 0 (discharged without disease) to 8 (death).ResultsThe mean age was 67 ± 14 years, and most patients were male (59.4%). Median time to clinical improvement was 7 days (interquartile range (IQR) 3.5-15) in the linagliptin group compared with 8 days (IQR 3.5–28) in the standard of care group (hazard ratio, 1.22; 95% CI, 0.70–2.15; p = 0.49). In-hospital mortality was 5 (15.6%) and 8 (25.0%) in the linagliptin and standard of care groups, respectively (odds ratio, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.16–1.93). The trial was prematurely terminated due to the control of the COVID-19 outbreak in Israel.ConclusionsIn this randomized clinical trial of hospitalized adult patients with diabetes and COVID-19 who received linagliptin, there was no difference in the time to clinical improvement compared with the standard of care.Clinical Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT04371978.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurema Otero González ◽  
Pierre Malchair ◽  
Jordi Giol ◽  
Xavier Solanich ◽  
Thiago Carnaval ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: COVID-19 has quickly become a global pandemic with a substantial number of deaths and a substantial burden for healthcare systems worldwide. Although most cases are paucisymptomatic and limited to the viral infection related symptoms, some patients evolve to a second phase, with an impaired inflammatory response (cytokine storm) that may lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome and death. This is thought to be caused by an increased bradykinin synthesis. Methods: ICAT-COVID is a multicenter, randomized, open-label, proof-of-concept phase II clinical trial assessing the clinical efficacy and safety of adding Icatibant on the standard of care in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 without invasive mechanical ventilation. Patients hospitalized with a confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia diagnosis (RT-PCR or antigen test ≤ 10 days prior to randomization, and radiographic evidence of pulmonary infiltrates), rated ‘4’ or ‘5’ on the WHO’s clinical status scale are eligible. Patients will be randomized on a 1:1 ratio to either standard of care-plus-Icatibant (experimental group) or to standard of care alone (control group). The experimental group will receive 30 mg of Icatibant subcutaneously 3 times a day for 3 days (for a total of 9 doses). The expected sample size is of 120 patients (60 per group) gathered from 2 centers in Spain. Primary outcomes are Icatibant’s efficacy and safety. The main efficacy outcome is the number of patients reaching grades ‘2’ or ‘1’ on the WHO Scale within 10 days of treatment start. Among the secondary outcomes are ‘long-term efficacy’: number of patients discharged who do not present any COVID-19-related relapse or comorbidity up until 28 days after discharging, and mortality. Discussion: Icatibant, a bradykinin type 2 receptor antagonist with proven effectiveness and safety against hereditary angioedema attacks, may be beneficial for COVID-19 patients by inhibiting bradykinin’s action on endothelial cells and by inhibiting the SARS-CoV-2 M protease. Our working hypothesis is that treatment with Standard of Care-plus-Icatibant is effective and safe to treat patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 admitted to hospital for pneumonia without invasive mechanical ventilation.Trial registration: EudraCT: 2020-002166-13; ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04978051


Author(s):  
Sisir Nandi ◽  
Mohit Kumar ◽  
Mridula Saxena ◽  
Anil Kumar Saxena

Background: The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused by a new strain (SARS-CoV-2) erupted in 2019. Nowadays, it is a great threat that claims uncountable lives worldwide. There is no specific chemotherapeutics developed yet to combat COVID-19. Therefore, scientists have been devoted in the quest of the medicine that can cure COVID- 19. Objective: Existing antivirals such as ASC09/ritonavir, lopinavir/ritonavir with or without umifenovir in combination with antimalarial chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine have been repurposed to fight the current coronavirus epidemic. But exact biochemical mechanisms of these drugs towards COVID-19 have not been discovered to date. Method: In-silico molecular docking can predict the mode of binding to sort out the existing chemotherapeutics having a potential affinity towards inhibition of the COVID-19 target. An attempt has been made in the present work to carry out docking analyses of 34 drugs including antivirals and antimalarials to explain explicitly the mode of interactions of these ligands towards the COVID-19protease target. Results: 13 compounds having good binding affinity have been predicted towards protease binding inhibition of COVID-19. Conclusion: Our in silico docking results have been confirmed by current reports from clinical settings through the citation of suitable experimental in vitro data available in the published literature.


Author(s):  
Ekta Shirbhate ◽  
Preeti Patel ◽  
Vijay K Patel ◽  
Ravichandran Veerasamy ◽  
Prabodh C Sharma ◽  
...  

: The novel coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), a global pandemic that emerged from Wuhan, China has today travelled all around the world, so far 216 countries or territories with 21,732,472 people infected and 770,866 deaths globally (as per WHO COVID-19 update dated August 18, 2020). Continuous efforts are being made to repurpose the existing drugs and develop vaccines for combating this infection. Despite, to date, no certified antiviral treatment or vaccine prevails. Although, few candidates have displayed their efficacy in in vitro studies and are being repurposed for COVID-19 treatment. This article summarizes synthetic and semi-synthetic compounds displaying potent activity in their clinical experiences or studies against COVID-19 and also focuses on mode of action of drugs being repositioned against COVID-19.


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