NEW DELHI: The multi-country solidarity trial led by the World Health Organization (WHO) has concluded that none of the four repurposed drugs that it examined — Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), Lopinavir and Interferon — have any benefits on the patients of Covid-19, as indicated by overall mortality, initiation of ventilation and duration of hospital stay.
At present, the clinical management protocol for Covid-19 in India recommends use of Remdesivir as an investigational therapy and HCQ as an off-label repurposed therapy for treatment.
“These Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquine, Lopinavir and Interferon regimens appeared to have little or no effect on hospitalized Covid-19 patients, as indicated by overall mortality, initiation of ventilation and duration of hospital stay. The mortality findings contain most of the randomized evidence on Remdesivir and Interferon, and are consistent with meta-analyses of mortality in all major trials,” researchers from the Solidarity trial reported.
The results of the study are under review for publication. A preprint is available at medRxiv.
The trial was conducted in 405 hospitals in 30 countries involving 11,266 adults.