COVID-19 Clinical Trials and Expanded Access

The purpose of this data repository is to provide a secure and centralized storage location and resource for the collection of essential data and medical specimens, across COVID-19 related protocols at Duke.

The COVID-19 pandemic has already overwhelmed the sanitary capacity. Additional therapeutic arsenals, albeit untested in the given context but previously proven to be efficacious in a related clinical context, that could reduce the morbidity rate are urgently needed. A decrease of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is a validated bad prognosis marker in sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome. In contrast, auricular vagus nerve stimulation was proven not only to increase HRV values in healthy Humans, but also to reduce sepsis and increase survival, both significantly, in experimental models. Moreover, the heavy viral infection within the brainstem of deceased patients suggests that the neuroinvasive potential of SARS-CoV2 is likely to be partially responsible for COVID-19 acute respiratory failure and may bear relevance in tailoring future treatment modalities. Interestingly, the vagus nerve (or tenth cranial nerve) connects bidirectionally the brainstem to various internal organs including the lung and to one external organ, namely, the outer ear. Hence, the impact of auricular vagus nerve stimulation through semi-permanent needles will be studied, mostly used so far for pain alleviation, on the outcome of COVID-19 inpatients within 15 days.

The investigators aim to characterise Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in every age group. On the one hand, emphasis is put on the initial presentation, clinical course, outcome and the therapy used. On the other hand further investigations regarding viral and bacterial coinfections, and response of the immune system will be conducted. This study should serve to improve the understanding of COVID-19, to identify risk factors for a severe clinical course and to obtain further insights into pathophysiology of this new infectious disease.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has placed tremendous stress on the global economy since its outbreak in December 2019. Currently, with nearly 1.3 million confirmed cases, there is still no effective way to contain the disease. The transmission of COVID-19 occurs via direct (prolonged close interaction, within 2 meters for more than 30 minutes) and indirect (fomites) contacts. Locally, the risk of COVID-19 infection in household contacts of confirmed cases is about 4%. These at-risk individuals are identified through contact tracing and infectious may be preventable using post-exposure-prophylaxis (PEP). However, there has yet to be a single effective, safe, and affordable pharmacological agent with such capabilities. Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is a cheap anti-malarial and immunomodulatory agent which may potentially be used as PEP against COVID-19. HCQ is capable of blocking the invasion and intracellular replication of the virus. Existing studies have reported efficacy of HCQ in treating COVID-19, with reduced time to clinical recovery and few reports of patients suffering from significant side effects. However, existing studies are largely limited by their small sample sizes. Furthermore, there has yet to be a published trial on HCQ's role in PEP. This cluster randomized trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of oral HCQ PEP, taken over for 5 days, in reducing the number of infected household contacts of confirmed COVID-19 patients under home quarantine. Comparison will be made between HCQ PEP (treatment group) and no treatment (control group). Subjects will be followed up over a course of 28 days, with daily symptom monitoring conducted over phone calls. Positive outcomes from this study will provide a means for us to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

The purpose of this research is to see if the DPP4 inhibitor linagliptin, an oral medication commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes,can help with diabetes control and reduce the severity of the COVID-19 infection

This is a phase II, randomised, double-blinded and placebo-controlled clinical trial in healthy adults above 18 years of age. This clinical trial is designed to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of Ad5-nCoV which encodes for a full-length spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2.

Blood samples from participants who have recovered from COVID-19 infection will be obtained and studied. The goal of the research is to identify antibodies that have been generated by the patient to fight the COVID-19 infection. By identifying the most effective antibodies, scientists can make specific antibodies to use to prevent future coronavirus outbreaks or to treat patients with severe disease.

The overall objective of the study is to determine the therapeutic effect and tolerance of Anakinra in patients with moderate, severe pneumonia or critical pneumonia associated with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Anakinra (ANA) is a recombinant human decoy IL-1Ra and therefore blocks IL-1α and IL-1β. The study has a cohort multiple Randomized Controlled Trials (cmRCT) design. Randomization will occur prior to offering Anakinra administration to patients enrolled in the COVIMUNO-19 cohort. Anakinra will be administered to consenting adult patients hospitalized with CORVID-19 either diagnosed with moderate or severe pneumonia requiring no mechanical ventilation or critical pneumonia requiring mechanical ventilation. Patients who will chose not to receive Anakinra will receive standard of cares. Outcomes of Anakinra -treated patients will be compared with outcomes of standard of care treated patients as well as outcomes of patients treated with other immune modulators.

The overall objective of the study is to determine the therapeutic effect and tolerance of Sarilumab in combination with Azithromycin and Hydroxychloroquine, compared to Sarilumab only, patients with moderate, severe pneumonia associated with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Sarilumab is a human IgG1 monoclonal antibody that binds specifically to both soluble and membrane-bound IL-6Rs (sIL-6Rα and mIL-6Rα) and has been shown to inhibit IL-6-mediated signaling through these receptors. The study has a cohort multiple Randomized Controlled Trials (cmRCT) design. Randomization will occur prior to offering investigational treatments administration to patients enrolled in the CORIMUNO-19 cohort (NCT04324047). Sarilumab+Azithromycin+Hydroxychloroquine, or Sarilumab only will be administered to consenting adult patients hospitalized with COVID-19 either diagnosed with moderate or severe pneumonia requiring no mechanical ventilation. All patients will receive standard of care along with randomized investigational treatments. Outcomes of included patients will be compared between groups as well as with outcomes of patients in the CORIMUNO-19 cohort treated with other immune modulators or standard of care.

There is no predictive tool for patients admitted to the emergency department with a suspicion of Covid-19 that will worsen secondarily and require a heavy lifting. In a context of saturation of the healthcare system by the pandemic at Covid-19,it is essential to identify specific, accessible prognostic markers via minimally invasive sampling with low risk of infection for personnel caregiver, for optimal allocation of resuscitation resources. This study proposes to evaluate the biological markers of routine care known to be associated with resuscitation admission in relation to hospitalization on conventional service for the prediction of worsening of patients admitted to the emergencies for Covid-19.