To assess the efficacy and safety of four treatments that could have an effect on the coronavirus (remdesivir, lopinavir in combination with ritonavir, the latter treatment being combined or not with interferon beta, and hydroxychloroquine): such is the objective of the Discovery clinical trial which will include 3,200 European patients including 800 French patients hospitalized for a Covid-19 infection in a medical department or directly in intensive care. This test started last weekend in France and will be coordinated by Inserm. The full results of this study were to be known after 6 weeks of kinic testing.
Patients from Bichat, Lille, Nantes, Strasbourg and Lyon
“Five French hospitals will participate at the start (Paris – Bichat-AP-HP hospital, Lille, Nantes, Strasbourg, Lyon) then we will open other centers to reach at least twenty participating establishments” underlines Florence Ader, infectious disease specialist in the infectious and tropical diseases department at the Croix-Rousse hospital at the CHU de Lyon and researcher at Inserm, who will lead the French part of the study.
Priority will be given to hospitals which have to or will have to deal with a strong influx of patients. “Our center opening strategy will follow the epidemiological reality of the epidemic” adds the infectious disease specialist.
All patients will receive treatment
As Inserm specifies, the Discovery clinical trial is not a “compassionate” trial but a clinical trial of efficacy and tolerance. It started with 5 types of treatment allocated randomly to patients, so as to constitute 5 groups equivalent in number of patients. Some will receive:
- Standard care (the care currently provided to hospital patients depending on the severity of their condition)
- Standard treatments + remdesivir
- Standard care + lopinavir and ritonavir
- Standard care + lopinavir + ritonavir and interferon beta
- Standard care + hydroxy-choloroquine
The efficacy and safety of these treatments will be evaluated 15 days after the inclusion of each patient in the study. “Several false information is circulating concerning this clinical trial. No, no patient is given a placebo and all patients receive care adapted to their condition” insist the researchers. And no, hydrochloroquine is not given only to patients already in intensive care “.
“The great strength of this test is its” adaptive “character. This means that very quickly ineffective experimental treatments can be abandoned and replaced by other molecules which will emerge from the research” insists Florence Ader.
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