COVID-19 Clinical Trials and Expanded Access

This study is to discuss the different clinical presentations, hematological and laboratory abnormalities in pediatric COVID-19 infection.

Tocilizumab is an effective treatment for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pneumonia and related inflammation. Given limited global supplies, clarification of the optimal tocilizumab dose is critical. We conducted an open-label, randomized, controlled trial evaluating two different dose levels of tocilizumab in Covid-19 (40mg and 120mg). Randomization was stratified on remdesivir and corticosteroid at enrollment. The primary outcome was the time to recovery. The key secondary outcome was 28-day mortality.

This study assesses the clinical effectiveness of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibition with rapamycin in minimizing or decreasing the severity of acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS) in participants infected with mild to moderate COVID-19 virus.

The first-in-human Phase 1 study component will evaluate two dose levels of RAPA-501-ALLO off the shelf cells in patients with COVID-19-related ARDS, with key endpoints of safety, biologic and potential disease-modifying effects. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2b study component will evaluate infusion of RAPA-501 ALLO off the shelf cells or a control infusion, with the primary endpoint assessing whether RAPA-501 cells reduce 30-day mortality. The COVID-19 pandemic is a disaster playing out with progressive morbidity and mortality. As of April 6th, 2021, an estimated 132.1 million people have contracted the virus and 2,866,000 deaths have resulted globally. The United States has the highest totals with an estimated 30.8 million people diagnosed and 556,000 deaths. In stages 1 and 2 of COVID-19, viral propagation within the patient is predominant. As such, therapeutic interventions focus on immune molecules (convalescent serum, monoclonal antibodies) and anti-viral medications (remdesivir). In marked contrast, the most severe and deadly form of COVID-19, stage 3, is driven not by viral propagation, but by an out-of-control immune response (hyperinflammation) caused by increases in immune molecules known as cytokines and chemokines. As such, therapeutic interventions for stage 3 disease focus on anti-inflammatory medications such as anti-cytokine therapy (anti-IL-6 drugs) or corticosteroid therapy. Unfortunately, such interventions do not address the full pathogenesis of stage 3 COVID-19, which includes hyperinflammation due to "cytokine storm" and "chemokine storm," tissue damage, hypercoagulation, and multi-organ failure (including lung, heart, kidney and brain). The pulmonary component of stage 3 disease includes acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which is a final-common-pathway of patient death due to a myriad of conditions, including pneumonia, sepsis, and trauma. There is a dire need for novel cellular treatments that can deliver both a broad-based immune modulation effect and a tissue regenerative effect, such as RAPA-501-ALLO off-the-shelf allogeneic hybrid TREG/Th2 Cells. Stage 3 COVID-19 carries an estimated 30-day mortality of over 50% in spite of ICU utilization, mechanical ventilation, and supportive care therapies to manage ARDS and multiorgan failure. Narrowly acting targeted anti-inflammatory approaches such as anti-IL-6 therapeutics have not been particularly effective in stage 3 COVID-19 and the broad anti-inflammatory pharmaceutical approach of corticosteroid therapy, has only modestly tempered stage 3 disease in some studies. Cell therapy is also being evaluated in stage 3 COVID-19, in particular, mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) and now, with the current RAPA-501-ALLO protocol, regulatory T (TREG) cells. TREG therapy has a mechanism of action that includes a multi-faceted anti-inflammatory effect, which puts TREG therapy at the forefront of future curative therapy of a wide range of autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases, plus transplant complications, such as graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and graft rejection. In addition, TREG therapy can provide a tissue regenerative effect, which places TREG cell therapy at the lead of novel regenerative medicine efforts to repair a myriad of tissue-based diseases, such as diseases of the skin, muscle, lung, liver, intestine, heart (myocardial infarction) and brain (stroke). RAPA-501-ALLO off-the-shelf cell therapy offers this potential dual threat mechanism of action that incorporates both anti-inflammatory and tissue repair effects for effective treatment of COVID-19 and multiple lethal conditions. RAPA-501-ALLO cells are generated from healthy volunteers, cryopreserved, banked, and are then available for off-the-shelf therapy anytime. During manufacturing, T cells are "reprogrammed" ex vivo using a novel, patented 7-day two-step process that involves T cell de-differentiation and subsequent re-differentiation towards the two key anti-inflammatory programs, the TREG and Th2 pathways, thus creating a "hybrid" product. The hybrid phenotype inhibits inflammatory pathways operational in COVID-19, including modulation of multiple cytokines and chemokines, which attract inflammatory cells into tissue for initiation of multi-organ damage. The hybrid TREG and Th2 phenotype of RAPA-501-ALLO cells cross-regulates Th1 and Th17 populations that initiate hyperinflammation of COVID-19. RAPA-501 immune modulation occurs in a T cell receptor independent manner, thus permitting off-the-shelf cell therapy. Finally, in experimental models of viral pneumonia and ARDS, TREG cells mediate a protective effect on the lung alveolar tissue. Because of this unique mechanism of action that involves both anti-inflammatory and tissue protective effects, the allogeneic RAPA-501 T cell product is particularly suited for evaluation in the setting of COVID-19-related ARDS.

This study is designed rapidly assess safety and preliminary efficacy in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 respiratory distress to provide clinical guidance for possible wider use in treating patients in this pandemic environment. This data will be used for FDA IND filings and pursuit of a BLA.

In this trial patients will be treated with either a combination of therapies to treat COVID-19 or a placebo. Treatment will last 10 days, and patients will be followed for 6 months.

To assess the prognostic performance of the RALE score with respect to duration of ventilation, and to describe changes in the RALE score over time.

Only 5% of patients infected with COVID-19 develop severe or critical Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and there is no reliable risk stratification tool for non-severe COVID-19 patients at admission. Finding a way to predict which patients with an initial mild to moderate presentation of COVID-19 would develop severe or critical form of COVID-19 according to CT-scan data, simple clinical and biological parameters is challenging. In this multicentric study, the study aims to construct a predictive score for early identification of cases at high risk of progression to moderate, severe or critical COVID-19 combining simple clinical and biological parameters and qualitative, quantitative or artificial intelligence (AI) data from the initial CT from non-severe patients.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been spreading continuously, and in Brazil, until July 19, 2020, there have been more than 2,000,000 cases with more than 79,000 deaths, with daily increases. The present study proposes to evaluate the efficacy of methylprednisolone and heparin in treatment of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia in a randomized, controlled, 2x2 factorial study.

Introduction: The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak has left more than two million infected worldwide in the first four months of COVID-19 epidemic. To date, there is no specific treatment for the disease and in critically ill patients there is an additional challenge in controlling the systemic inflammatory response, which is characterized by cytokine storm, alteration in coagulation and endothelial activation in addition to infection. Strategies used in previous viral epidemics, such as convalescent plasma, are therapeutic options to rescue, especially in individuals with a critical presentation of the disease. Aim: To establish clinical response of critically ill patients with COVID-19 who received convalescent plasma from subjects recovered from SARS-CoV-2 during their stay in Intensive Care Unit at Fundación Cardiovascular de Colombia (Hospital Internacional de Colombia). Methodology: Quasi-experimental study (no randomization will be performed). Adult patients who meet selection criteria will receive 500 ml of ABO compatible convalescent plasma, obtained by apheresis from patients recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection. The main outcome will be in-hospital mortality at 30 days, while indication for ventilatory support (intubation) and adverse events at thirty days will be evaluated as secondary outcomes, compared to subjects receiving usual treatment for clinical sign and symptoms given the absence of ABO compatible plasma units. A survival analysis will be performed using Kaplan-Meier method and association strength will be reported using HR and 95% CI crude and adjusted for confounding variables. Expected results: It is expected to know the clinical and paraclinical response of patients receiving convalescent plasma in our institution, as well as to establish their probability of survival and its associated factors.