Patients with severe COVID-19 are being recruited to test the antiviral drug remdesivir as part of a new trial which is being led by the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at University College London (UCL).
The Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial, which is taking place in about 75 hospitals globally, recruited its first UK patient last week.
UK hospitals taking part in the trial include the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle; the Churchill Hospital, Oxford; Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, London; the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton; and St James’s University Hospital, Leeds.
Prof Sarah Pett, co-lead of the study (MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL) with Prof Abdel Babiker (MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL), said: “It is an adaptive study and randomised trial so as new treatments evolve, we hope to include these quickly as treatments within the trial.”
The trial is double blinded: adults who have been hospitalised with COVID-19 will be allocated at random to receive either remdesivir or a placebo via a drip for up to ten days while they are in hospital.
People taking part in the trial will be followed up for 29 days. Initially the trial aims to recruit 440 people. Researchers hope to have the first results from the trial by the beginning of this summer.
The trial is also taking place in the USA, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Germany and Greece and there are plans to open it in Spain, Italy and other EU countries.
