HIV drugs of no benefit for hospitalised adult patients with severe Covid-19
A trial of 199 patients with Covid-19 has found that a combination treatment used to treat HIV, was of no benefit in treating severe Covid-19 in adults. It was hoped that the combination of lopinavir and ritonavir, which is sold under the brand name Kaletra among others, would hold promise as a treatment for Covid-19. Instead the study found that there was no difference from standard care in the time to clinical improvement. Mortality rates were also similar and the percentages of patients with detectable viral RNA at various time points were similar.
Journal/conference: New England Journal of Medicine
Link to research (DOI): DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2001282
Organisation/s: National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, China
Funder: Supported by grants from Major Projects of National Science and Technology on New Drug Creation and Development (2020ZX09201001) and (2020ZX09201012); the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) Emergency Project of Covid-19 (2020HY320001); and a National Science Grant for Distinguished Young Scholars (81425001/H0104). Dr. Jaki is a recipient of a National Institute for Health Research Senior Research Fellowship (2015-08-001). Dr. Horby reports receiving funding from the Wellcome Trust, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the United Kingdom Department of Health and Social Care.
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