COVID-19 updates
|
COVID-19 Vaccines
Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline received a $2.1 billion grant from Operation Warp Speed to fund clinical trials, scale up manufacturing, and deliver 100 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine to the U.S. The deal also includes an option for an additional 500 million doses. The Departments of Defense and Health and Human Services, as part of Operation Warp Speed, have awarded Johnson & Johnson $1 billion for the first 100 million doses ($10 per dose) of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine. The supply will be used for clinical trials or provided, at no charge, through a U.S. vaccination program. The U.S. government also has an option for an additional 200 million doses. Moderna has signed some early vaccine supply deals, pricing their COVID-19 vaccine at $32 to $37 per dose or $64 to $74 per two dose regimen. These early deals were for smaller supplies, so larger orders could have a lower cost per dose, but Moderna has not specified what the price might be. A price for a U.S. government purchase has not yet been determined. Novavax announced that in a 131 patient, Phase I trial (NCT04368988), the antibody level increased with all doses of its NVX-CoV2373 COVID-19 vaccine with or without the Matrix-M adjuvant. Either formulation of the vaccine with adjuvant induced neutralizing antibody levels greater than what is seen in recovered COVID-19 patients. The trial was sponsored by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and performed in Australia. Novavax is evaluating NVX-CoV2373 in a 1,500 patient, Phase II trial in the U.S. and Australia. Zydus is developing a DNA vaccine (ZyCoV-D)
Lilly initiated the NIAID sponsored, 2,400 patient, Phase III, BLAZE-2 trial to assess the prophylactic potential of LY-CoV555 in long-term care residents. BLAZE-2 will assess whether a single dose of LY-CoV555 reduces the rate of COVID-19 through 4 weeks and COVID-19 complications through 8 weeks. The Pharmaceutical Pipeline Tracker COVID-19 Antibody page now includes new clinical trials for two products (BRII-196 and BRII-198) and two new monoclonal products that have also entered clinical testing: Sinocelltech is evaluating SCTA01 as a potential treatment for COVID-19 infection.
BARDA ceased funding IL-6 inhibitor trials evaluating tocilizumab and sarilumab as treatments for severe COVID-19 in August 2020. Tocilizumaband sarilumab have each failed to demonstrate improvements in clinical trials. In a 28-day, 56-patient, observational study, 28 patients that received sarilumab were compared to 28 that did not receive the drug. Treatment with sarilumab did not improve clinical status or mortality in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia and systemic hyperinflammation. The study suggested that sarilumab may speed recovery in patients with minor lung consolidation at baseline. This study used a subset of patients from the Italian, 1,000 patient, COVID-BioB observational study (NCT04318366). COVID-19 vaccines
Pfizer and BioNTech initiated a Pfizer funded, 30,000 patient, Phase II/III trial for vaccine candidate BNT162b2 (one of four in development) on July 27. BNT162b2 will be administered as two 30 mcg immunizations. The vaccine elicited neutralizing antibodies in older adults (65-85 years of age) greater than the level seen in a panel of 38 recovered COVID-19 patients. Moderna and NIAID initiated an NIAID funded, 30,000 patient, Phase III trial (NCT04470427) for COVID-19 vaccine candidate mRNA-1273 on July 27. The vaccine will be administered as two 100 mcg immunizations given 28 days apart. AstraZeneca is evaluating its COVID-19 vaccine, AZD1222, in a 2,000 patient, Phase I/II trial in South Africa (NCT04444674) and in a 10,260 Phase II/III trial in the U.K (NCT04400838). Johnson & Johnson initiated a 1,000 patient, Phase I/IIa trial (NCT04436276) on July 22 in the U.S. and Belgium with initial results expected in September. COVID-19 Vaccine Pricing: Pfizer plans to price the two dose COVID-19 vaccine regimen at a minimum of $19.50 per dose or $39 for the two dose course of immunizations for the additional 500 million doses the U.S. can purchase under an Agreement. The price will be the same for other developed countries that make the same volume commitment. AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson have agreed to sell their vaccines near cost and may be charging as low as $3 per dose. Moderna may price the two dose COVID-19 vaccine regimen at $50 to $60. However, given the pricing from other companies, they will likely charge a lower price. Tocilizumab Roche announced that in the BARDA sponsored 28-day, 450 patient, Phase III COVACTA trial (NCT04320615), treatment with tocilizumab did not improve clinical status ventilator-free days or mortality compared to placebo in hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19-associated pneumonia. Patients treated with tocilizumab were discharged sooner than those in the placebo group (20 vs 28 days). Lenzilumab NIAID is comparing lenzilumab plus remdesivir to remdesivir monotherapy on the need for mechanical ventilation in hospitalized patients with COVID-19, in the 28-day, 200 patient, BIG EFFECT trial (NCT04351152). New Dedicated COVID-19 Antibody Page Check out the status of COVID-19 monoclonal antibodies under development from AstraZeneza, Lilly, Regeneron and Vir on our new Blood-Derived Products Under Evaluation or the Treatment of COVID-19 web page. COVID-19 vaccines
HHS and the BARDA awarded Pfizer and BioNTech $1.95 billion for the first 100 million doses of their experimental COVID-19 vaccine as part of operation Warp Speed. The U.S. government also has an option for an additional 500 million doses. Novavax signed an agreement with Fujufilm Diosynth Biotechnologies to manufacture the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine NVX-CoV2373. Novavax expects to announce the results of its Phase I trial in early August and begin the Phase II trial in mid-August. A 30,000 patient Phase III trial is expected to begin in the fall. Favipiravir Glenmark Pharmaceuticals announced that in a 150 patient, open-label, Indian Phase III trial, treatment with favipiravir added to supportive care resulted in 28.6% faster viral clearance and a 40% faster attainment of clinical cure compared to supportive care alone in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19. Patients were initiated on favipiravir within 48-hours of a positive test. Glenmark did not specify whether other antivirals were included in standard supportive care in India. Hydroxychloroquine In a 15-day, 423 patient, Phase III, Brazilian trial, hydroxychloroquine alone or with azithromycin did not improve clinical status (7-point scale from hospitalized and no symptoms to death) compared to placebo in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Hydroxychloroquine alone or with azithromycin was associated with a prolongation of the QT interval and an increase in liver-enzymes. Glucocorticoids Researchers at Montefiore Medical Center retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 1,806 hospitalized COVID-19 patients and found that glucocorticoids administered within 48 hours of admission was not associated with a decrease in mortality or mechanical ventilation. However, patients with a CRP of 20 mg/dL or greater had a reduced risk of mortality and mechanical ventilation, while use in patients with a CRP < 10 mg/dL was associated with an increased risk of mortality or mechanical ventilation. Hydroxychloroquine
In a 14-day, 423 patient, Phase III trial conducted by the University of Minnesota, hydroxychloroquine did not substantially reduce symptom severity (scale no symptoms to severe symptoms) in outpatients with early to mild COVID-19. Dexamethasone A final version of the preliminary report of the dexamethasone arm of the 11,500 patient RECOVERY trial (NCT04381936) was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The results included 2,104 patients that received dexamethasone (6 mg for 10 days) compared to 4,321 patients that received supportive care only. Overall 28-day mortality was 22.9% with dexamethasone compared to 25.7% with placebo. The mortality rate for patients on ventilators was 29.3% with dexamethasone compared to 41.4% with supportive care only. Dexamethasone also had a lower mortality rate in patients requiring oxygen, but not on a ventilator (23.3% vs. 26.2%) but did not reduce mortality in patients not receiving respiratory support at enrollment (17.8% vs. 14.0%). Interferon In a 28-day, 81 patient, Israeli trial, adding subcutaneous interferon beta 1a to hydroxychloroquine plus lopinavir/ritonavir or atazanavir/ritonavir did not decrease the time to clinical response, but did increase discharge rate on day 14 and decreased 28-day mortality, compared to not adding interferon in patients with severe COVID-19. Synairgen announced that in a 101 patient trial, treatment with nebulized interferon beta 1a (SNG001) reduced the risk of developing severe COVID-19 and increased the likelihood of recovering in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Subcutaneous interferon beta 1a is currently being evaluated as a treatment for COVID-19 in the UK’s RECOVERY trial and the WHO-led SOLIDARITY study. COVID-19 Vaccines In a 56-day, 1,077 patient, Phase I/II, British trial (NCT04324606), neutralizing antibody levels after a single dose of AstraZeneca’s and the University of Oxford’s AZD1222 vaccine, peaked at 28-days and remained elevated through day 56 with 90% of participants developing antibodies. A booster dose was given four weeks later to 10 patients and resulted in higher antibody levels. Many patients developed systemic reactions (e.g., chills, fever) compared to meningococcal conjugate vaccine, but the reactions were reduced with acetaminophen. AstraZeneca is working with contract research organization IQVIA to accelerate enrollment and completion of a Phase III trial for AZD1222 as part of Operation Warp Speed. In a 45 patient, Phase I, NIAID trial (NCT04283461), the antibody level increased with higher doses of Moderna’s mRNA-1273 (25, 100 and 250 mcg). Antibody titers further increased with a booster dose at 1-month. All doses produced serum-neutralizing activity that were similar to the levels seen in recovered patients. The incidence of adverse effects was higher after the second vaccination, especially with the 250 mcg dose. In a 508 patient, dose-ranging, Phase II, Chinese trial (NCT04341389), a single dose of CanSino’s COVID-19 vaccine resulted in seroconversion in more than 96% of participants; 85% produced neutralizing antibodies and 90% had T-cell response. As was seen in the Phase I trial, participants that were 55 or older and those with adenovirus immunity had lower humoral responses, but this did affect T-cell responses. The most frequent systemic reactions were fatigue, fever and headache. In a 60 patient, open-label, dose-ranging, Phase I/II, German trial (NCT04380701), participants were given two doses of Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s BNT162, separated by three weeks. The vaccine elicited a dose-dependent antibody response with the 50 mcg dose resulting in neutralizing antibody levels that were three times those in recovered COVID-19 patients. The article also describes the T-cell responses in 36 patients with both CD4 cells (34 patients) and CD8 cells (29 patients). J&J began development work on a single dose vaccine, Ad26.COV2-S in March 2020. A 1,000 patient, Phase I/IIa trial (NCT04436276) is expected to begin on July 22 in the U.S. and Belgium with initial results available in September. Additional trials include a Phase I study in Japan and a Phase II study in the Netherlands, Spain, and Germany. A successful Phase I/IIa trial would lead to a 30,000 patient, NIAID Phase III trial in September. Sinopharm initiated a 15,000 patient, Phase III trial in the United Arab Emirates on 7/16/2020. Guideline Update The NIH has updated its guidelines for the treatment of patients with COVID-19. The updates include recommendations for the use of remdesivir when supplies are limited and use of dexamethasone. The update also includes new clinical evidence regarding lopinavir/ritonavir, hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin, convalescent plasma, kinase inhibitors and immunomodulators. Lopinavir-Ritonavir
French researchers prospectively monitored the heart rhythms of 41 hospitalized COVID-19 patients being treated with lopinavir and ritonavir and found that 22% (nine patients) experienced bradycardia at least 48 hours after initiating the drugs. Favipiravir Fujita Health University researchers announced that in an 89 patient trial, treatment with favipiravir did not improve COVID-19 symptoms compared to placebo in patients with early-stage COVID-19. Tocilizumab In an observational trial, University of Michigan researchers examined outcomes in 154 mechanically ventilated patients with severe COVID-19 that received tocilizumab to those not receiving tocilizumab. Around a quarter of patients in each group received hydroxychloroquine and/or a corticosteroid and 3% received remdesivir. Patients that received tocilizumab were younger (55 vs. 60), less likely to have chronic pulmonary disease (10% vs. 28%), and lower D-dimer values (2.4 vs. 6.5 mg/dL). During a 47-day follow-up, tocilizumab patients had a higher rate of superinfections (54% vs. 26%), but a lower 28-day mortality rate (18% vs. 36%). COVID-19 Vaccines Moderna completed enrollment in a 600 patient, Phase II trial (NCT04405076) in early July. Patients were given a low dose (50 micrograms), high dose (100 micrograms) or placebo. Half of the patients enrolled in the trial are older than 55. Moderna plans to initiate a 30,000 patient, NIAID sponsored, Phase III trial on July 27, 2020 using the 100 mcg vaccine dose. The FDA granted Fast Track status to two vaccines in the BioNTech and Pfizer COVID-19 BNT162 program. A Pfizer funded 30,000 patient, Phase III trial is expected to begin in late July or early August. NIAID has established the COVID-19 Prevention Trials Network (COVPN), as part of Operation Warp Speed. The Network is designed to accelerate the development of vaccines and monoclonal antibodies for the prevention of COVID-19. COVPN is composed of four clinical trial networks, three that had focused on HIV/AIDS and a fourth targeting the development of vaccines and treatments for infectious diseases. Hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine
Oxford University is evaluating hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as prophylaxis of COVID-19 in health care professionals at risk for infection in the 40,000 patient, COPCOV trial (NCT04303507). The UK Medicines Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) halted enrollment in the COPCOV study on 5/26/2020. After review, MHRA allowed the study to continue on 6/26/2020. In a 2,541 patient, retrospective study, hydroxychloroquine reduced the hazard ratio for death by 66% and the combination of hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin reduced the hazard ratio by 71% compared to neither treatment in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. A high number of patients received corticosteroids and a small number received tocilizumab. More patients that received hydroxychloroquine also received a corticosteroid compared to not receiving the drug (78.9% vs 35.7%). The same was true with tocilizumab but use of the drug was small (2.7% vs 1.2%). When controlling for confounders using Cox regression modeling and propensity scores, hydroxychloroquine monotherapy and hydroxychloroquine combined with azithromycin were associated with higher survival among patients with COVID-19. Lopinavir-Ritonavir Researchers at Oxford announced results from the lopinavir-ritonavir arm of the RECOVERY trial. The 11,000 patient RECOVERY trial has several arms testing lopinavir-ritonavir, dexamethasone, hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, tocilizumab and convalescent plasma. An interim analysis of 1,596 patients enrolled in the lopinavir-ritonavir arm found no decrease in mortality at 28-days compared to 3,376 patients that received only supportive care (22.1% vs 21.3%). Since only 4% of patients were on ventilators, there was not a large enough patient population to determine if the combination had an effect in patients that are mechanically ventilated. Due to the lack of benefit, the researchers discontinued enrollment in the lopinavir-ritonavir arm of the trial. The WHO discontinued the lopinavir/ritonavir arm of the Solidarity Trial 7/4/2020. Sarilumab Sanofi and Regeneron discontinued a Phase III trial when an interim analysis of 194 patients revealed that treatment with sarilumab did not improve the percentage of patients who achieved at least a 1-point change from baseline on a 7-point scale (death to hospital discharge) compared to placebo in COVID-19 patients requiring mechanical ventilation. As of early July 2020, a Sanofi study evaluating sarilumab in the treatment of severe and critical COVID-19 remained active after an interim analysis. COVID-19 Antibodies In early July 2020, Regeneron and NIAID initiated a 2,000 patient, Phase III trial (NCT04452318) to evaluate REGN-COV2 in the prevention of COVID-19 in uninfected people that have had a close exposure to a COVID-19 patient. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense awarded Regeneron $450 million for a for large-scale U.S. manufacturing demonstration project to produce REGN-COV2. The goal of the project is to produce 70,000 to 300,000 treatment doses, which would also correspond to 420,000 to 1,300,000 prevention doses, which would be ready to ship by fall. If clinical trials are successful and REGN-COV2 receives Emergency Use Authorization or full approval, the doses could be shipped immediately at no cost, since the government has paid for the doses. COVID-19 Vaccines Novavax has received $1.6 billion grant from the Departments of Defense and Health and Human Services as part of Operation Warp Speed. The grant will cover the manufacture of 100 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, NVX-CoV2373, and a Phase III trial. Dose manufacturing and clinical testing will occur in parallel. Novavax expects to begin a 30,000 patient, Phase III trial in the fall. Remdesivir
The FDA approved an emergency use authorization (EUA) for remdesivir to treat hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19. HHS signed an Agreement with Gilead for 500,000 treatment courses of remdesivir on 6/29/2020. This represents 100% of July production, 90% of August production and 90% of September production. The U.S. The Department of Health and Human Services will control distribution through AmerisourceBergen and hospitals will pay no more than WAC for the drug. The government will tell AmerisourceBergen how many vials can be shipped to a state. The department of health in each state will direct the wholesaler to deliver doses to the hospitals with the highest number of inpatient COVID-19 cases. The initial supply from the Federal Stockpile of 5 million doses were exhausted at the end of June 2020. HHS will stop managing distribution of remdesivir at the end of September, when supplies are expected to stabilize. Gilead has set AWP for remdesivir (Veklury) at $520 per vial or $3,120 for five days of treatment. This is the price for private insurance patients in the U.S. The U.S. government price for Medicaid and military hospitals is $390 per vial or $2,340 for a five-day course of treatment. This is also the price for developed countries. Pricing for remdesivir is more aligned with estimates from ICER that take into account the potential effect of dexamethasone. Gilead has entered into agreements with generic manufacturers to make the drug available at a substantially lower cost to developing countries, where healthcare resources, infrastructure and economics are lower. Dexamethasone The National Institute of Health recommends use of dexamethasone 6 mg daily for up to ten days in COVID-19 patients the require supplemental oxygen with or without mechanical ventilation. NIH recommends against using dexamethasone in patients that do not require supplemental oxygen. The recommendation is based on data presented from the RECOVERY trial. The WHO recommends that dexamethasone only be used in patients with severe or critical disease. COVID-19 Vaccines
Sanofi expects to initiate a Phase I/II trial in September 2020, with potential approval in the first half of 2021. Sanofi also signed an agreement with Translate Bio for an mRNA vaccine. A Phase I trial is expected to begin by the end of 2020. Sinopharm is initiating a Phase III trial, with an unspecified number of patients, in the United Arab Emirates. Moderna signed an agreement with Catalent to increase capacity for filling vials and packaging doses. Remdesivir ICER revised its preliminary pricing review for remdesivir on 6/24/2020. ICER has provided two pricing estimates. One is a cost recovery pricing estimate, based on a review of the cost of producing the final finished product and estimated development costs. ICER estimated a cost recovery price of $1,600 for a 10-day course of treatment. Using a threshold price of $50,000 per incremental quality-adjusted life year (and equal value of a life-year gained) and the benefits seen in the Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial (ACTT), ICER estimated a cost-effective price of $4,580 to 5,080 for a 10-day course of remdesivir. ICER also estimated the effect that dexamethasone would contribute and estimated a lower cost-effectiveness price of $2,520 to $2,800 based on non-peer reviewed data from the RECOVERY trial. Colchicine In the 105 patient, Phase II, open-label, GRECCO-19 trial (NCT04326790), fewer patients treated with colchicine plus standard of care had a deterioration of 2 points on a 7-grade scale, ranging from able to resume normal activities to death, compared to only standard of care (1.8% vs 14%) in Greek patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The deterioration in the control groups was mainly due to an increased need for mechanical ventilation. Standard of care included hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine plus azithromycin in most patients with some patients also receiving lopinavir, ritonavir, tocilizumab or anticoagulation. There was no difference between groups in peak troponin levels or C-reactive protein, but colchicine did produce a reduction in dimerized plasma fragment D levels, which suggests a possible antithrombotic effect. Opaganib An article posted on an editorial server describes compassionate use of opaganib in Israel for the treatment of severe COVID-19 (NCT04435106) in five patients and compared the results to an investigator-selected matched case-control group of 18 patients. All opaganib-treated patients were discharged on room air and none required ventilation, while 33% of standard care patients required mechanical ventilation. All patients in both groups received hydroxychloroquine and most also received azithromycin. Redhill Biopharm is initiating a 40 patient, Phase IIa U.S. trial (NCT04414618) that will evaluate opaganib in treatment of patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia requiring hospitalization and supplemental oxygen. Redhill is also planning a European, 270 patient, Phase II/III trial. Tocilizumab In a 544 patient, retrospective Italian study, treatment with tocilizumab reduced the risk of mechanical ventilation or death, but had a higher incidence of new infections compared to standard of care alone after the patient sample was adjusted for sex, age, recruiting center, duration of symptoms, and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score. Standard of care in Italy at the time of the study (February 21 to April 30, 2020) included treatment with oxygen, hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, lopinavir–ritonavir or darunavir–cobicistat, and low molecular weight heparin. EIDD-2801
Ridgeback Biotherapeutics is developing EIDD-2801, an oral nucleoside analog that inhibits the replication of RNA viruses such as influenza and coronaviruses. In May, Ridgeback licensed manufacturing and development to Merck. Pending approval of the licensing deal with Merck, Ridgeback is moving forward with development.
Remdesivir Gilead is evaluating remdesivir administered as an inhalation in a Phase I study in healthy volunteers and hopes to initiate a COVID-19 patient trial in August 2020, with this formulation. Hydroxychloroquine NIH discontinued the ORCHID study in June 2020. The Orchid trial was evaluating hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for hospitalized patients with COVID-19. The discontinuation was recommended by the data and safety monitoring board after an interim analysis of data from 470 patients indicated that while hydroxychloroquine was safe, it was unlikely to demonstrate a beneficial effect. Dexamethasone You can get an early look at the dexamethasone data from the RECOVERY trial in a draft of the paper that is available on an editorial server. COVID-19 Antibodies
Regeneron scientists published an article describing the development of resistance to antibodies for the spike protein that potently neutralizes SARS-CoV-2. During in vitro testing mutations rapidly appeared in the presence of individual antibodies or combinations of antibodies with overlapping binding regions for the spike protein, causing the antibodies to lose activity. However, when antibody combinations with non-competing binding sites were used, resistance to the combination did not develop. Grifols began to manufacture hyperimmune immunoglobulin for COVID-19 in the U.S. in June. Grifols is working with the FDA and NIH to use initial supplies to validate a manufacturing process, preclinical testing, and then move to clinical testing. Grifols is also working on setting up collection and manufacturing in Europe. Baricitinib Lilly will evaluate baricitinib (Olumiant) as a treatment for cytokine storm in mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19 patients in a 400 patient, Phase III, COV-BARRIER trial (NCT04421027). The primary endpoint of the trial will be the number of patients on a ventilator or who die at 28-days. Baricitinib in combination with remdesivir is also being evaluated in an NIAID, 1,000 patient, Phase III ACTT 2 trial (NCT04401579). Dexamethasone The 11,500 patient RECOVERY trial has several arms testing lopinavir-ritonavir, dexamethasone, hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, tocilizumab, and convalescent plasma. An analysis of 6,425 patients enrolled in the dexamethasone arm found that 10-days treatment with dexamethasone 6 mg (2,104 patients) reduced mortality by 35% in patients on ventilators and 20% in non-ventilator patients that required oxygen compared to supportive care only (4,321). No mortality benefit was found in patients that did not require oxygen. The WHO recommended that dexamethasone only be used in patients with severe or critical disease. Lenzilumab Humanigen is testing lenzilumab, an anti-human GM-CSF monoclonal antibody, as a treatment for severe COVID-19 pneumonia. An unpublished, unedited article described 12 patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia treated under an FDA emergency IND with lenzilumab. Treatment with lenzilumab resulted in at least a 2-point improvement in an 8-point scale (death to discharged) in 11/12 of patients. Humanigen is evaluating lenzilumab as a treatment for immune-mediated cytokine release syndrome in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia in a 238 patient, Phase III trial (NCT04351152). PTC29 PTC299, a dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) inhibitor that is being developed by PTC Therapeutics as a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia. PTC299 has been shown in vitro to inhibit replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and modulate the immune response by attenuating the stress-induced inflammatory cytokine storm.
The WHO removed hydoxychloroquine and chloroquine as treatments in the multi-national SOLIDARITY COVID-19 trial on June 17, 2020. Mavrilimumab Mavrilimumab is a granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor antagonist, being developed by MedImmune for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Mavrilimumab is being evaluated as treatment for COVID-19 pneumonia due to its anti-inflammatory actions. In a 28-day, 39 patient trial, all patients treated with mavrilimumab (n=13) plus hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and lopinavir–ritonavir improved by two or more points (7-point scale of death to discharge) compared to 65% treated with hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and lopinavir–ritonavir without mavrilimumab (n=26) in non-ventilated patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and systemic hyperinflammation. Remdesivir Gilead is evaluating the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and efficacy of remdesivir in a single-arm Phase II/III trial (NCT04431453) in 50 pediatric patients with moderate-to-severe COVID-19, including newborns through adolescents. Tocilizumab Italian researchers announced that in a 123 patient trial, treatment with tocilizumab did not reduce admission to intensive care (28.3% vs. 27.0%) or 30-day mortality (3.3% vs. 3.2%) compared to placebo in patients with early-stage COVID-19 pneumonia. |
Stay informed, subscribe to the Prescribe Right Pharmaceutical Pipeline Tracker
Archives
July 2020
Categories |
RSS Feed