The World Health Organization and its partners recently launched the Solidarity international clinical trial in search of an effective treatment for COVID-19.
The rising death toll for a virus that so far has no counter measures created a need for rapid response. Therefore, as clinical trials normally require many years to conduct and design, the Solidarity Trial reduces that time by eighty percent.
About the Solidarity Trial
The trial is slated to compare four treatments versus the current standard of care regimen. It will also evaluate the effectiveness of these four treatments against COVID-19.
The Solidarity trial will be held in several countries. It is believed that conducting the trial in different countries will enable researchers to quickly assess if any of the four drugs are able to slow the progression of the disease or improve survival. The trial is open to any other new drug that can provide substantial, positive evidence.
In further explanation of the Solidarity trial design, the WHO notes that conducting one single randomized trial will expedite the assessment of unproven treatments throughout the world. The more countries that participate, the sooner the results will be returned and summarized.
The WHO assists with access to thousands of treatment cycles through donations by manufacturers.
The agency also invites companies and developers to work together ensuring that the treatment options are affordable and available if and when they prove to be effective.
Participation
Solidarity facilitates hospital participation by making required documentation available electronically, thereby eliminating paperwork. Effective April 21, 2020 there were over one hundred countries working in tandem to urgently locate effective therapeutics by way of the trial.
One of the Goals
This trial will avoid multiple smaller trials being held that may not provide researchers with the significant evidence required in order to determine the effectiveness of the new treatments.
Advice to Doctors
The WHO alerts medical associations and their physicians to refrain from administering these new and unproven drugs to COVID-19 patients until sufficient evidence has been published. The agency also warns people against self-medicating with the drugs.
The WHO is especially concerned at the reports it has received of people with COVID-19 self-medicating with chloroquine, which has been harmful to some people.
The Four Treatments Being Studied
The following treatments were selected for the study:
- Remdesivir: originally an Ebola treatment. Shows promising results for MERS and SARS in animal studies. These viruses are a result of coronaviruses.
- Lopinavir/Ritonavir: a licensed HIV treatment. Several lab experiments offer the possibility of some benefit, but studies of the agent and its effect on COVID-19 have not been encouraging.
- Interferon beta-1a used against multiple sclerosis.
- Hydroxycholoroquine and chloroquine to treat malaria and also rheumatology disorders. There have been small studies giving possible benefits of the drug against pneumonia in COVID-19 patients, but confirmation is needed through clinical trials.
