COVID-19 Clinical Trials and Expanded Access

The 2019 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 or COVID 19), which originated in Wuhan, China, has become a major concern all over the world. Convalescent plasma or immunoglobulins have been used as a last resort to improve the survival rate of patients with SARS whose condition continued to deteriorate despite any attempted treatment.. Moreover, several studies showed a shorter hospital stay and lower mortality in patients treated with convalescent plasma than those who were not treated with convalescent plasma. Evidence shows that convalescent plasma from patients who have recovered from viral infections can be used effectively as a treatment of patients with active disease. The use of solutions enriched of antiviral antibodies has several important advantages over the convalescent plasma including the high level of neutralizing antibodies supplied. Plasma-exchange is expensive and requires large volumes of substitution fluid. Albumin is better tolerated and less expensive, but exchanges using albumin solutions increase the risk of bleeding because of progressive coagulation factor depletion. With either albumin or fresh frozen plasma, increasing the risk of cardiovascular instability in the plasma donor and in the recipient, which can be detrimental in a critically ill patient with COVID 19 pneumonia. The aforementioned limitations of plasma therapy can be overcome by using selective apheresis methods, such as double-filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP).DFPP is a modality of plasma purification that performs an initial plasma separation from blood, and the subsequent separation of specific molecules, on the basis of their specific molecular weight (cut-off), by using a fractionation filter. The Fractionation Filter 2A20, because of its membrane sieving cut-off, retains larger molecules and returns plasma along with smaller molecules to the circulation, including the major part of the albumin. The selection of the membrane 2A20 is related to the appropriate Sieving Coefficient for IgG that allows to efficiently collect antibodies from patients which are recovered from COVID-19, with negligible fluid losses and limited removal of albumin. The total amount of antibodies obtained during one DFPP session exceeds by three to four times the total amount provided to recipients with one unit of plasma obtained during one plasma-exchange session from one COVID-19 convalescent donor. This should result in more effective viral inhibition and larger benefit for the patient achieved with one unit of enriched immunoglobulin solution obtained with DFPP than with one unit of plasma obtained with plasma exchange. These observations provide the background for a pilot study aimed to explore whether the infusion of antibodies obtained with one single DFPP procedure from voluntary convalescent donors could offer an effective and safe therapeutic option for critically ill patients with severe coronavirus (COVID-19) pneumonia requiring mechanical ventilation.

Since end of December, a new coronavirus, close to the 2002 SARS coronavirus, cause serious pneumonias throughout world. There is currently no strong evidence of an efficient specific treatment. Hydroxychloroquine is an old chloroquine-derived drug, prescribed for auto-immune disorders. It has shown efficacy against Sars-CoV-2 in vitro. Some studies showed that Hydroxychloroquine might improve the clinical status of Sars-CoV-2 infected patients. Azithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic, with immunomodulatory properties. Adding Azithromycin to a hydroxychloroquine-based treatment showed an apparent accelerated viral clearance in infected patients. This study wants to evaluate the clinical impact of adding Azithromycin to Hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of Sars-CoV-2 pneumonia

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic affects millions of humans worldwide and has led to thousands of acute medical hospitalizations. There is evidence that hospitalized cases often suffer from an important infection-related coagulopathy and from elevated risks of thrombosis. Anticoagulants may have positive effects here, to reduce the burden of thrombotic disease and the hyperactivity of coagulation, and may also hold beneficial anti-inflammatory effects against sepsis and the development of ARDS. The investigators hypothesize that high-dose anticoagulants, compared with low-dose anticoagulants, lower the risk of venous and arterial thrombosis, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and mortality. This open-label controlled trial will randomize hospitalized adults with severe COVID-19 infection to therapeutic anticoagulation vs. thromboprophylaxis during the hospital stay.

This is a PILOT STUDY, a Phase III double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study in which we assess the clinical effect of the prophylactic administration of hydroxychloroquine vs. placebo to healthcare workers working at our University Hospital (HUN). Participants in each arm (n = 43) will be administered with a unique loading dose of 800 mg of hydroxychloroquine the first day followed by 400 mg/week for 90 days. The population to be studied (uninfected healthcare personnel) will be highly exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection. An active search should be made for individuals who become infected while participating in the study, hence, once the informed consent form is signed, the molecular test for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection by RT-PCR will be carried out every 4 days in order to determine as closely as possible the moment the participant becomes positive. The results of the diagnostic RT-qPCR tests will be confronted with: (i) the results of immune monitoring of at least 30 immunological parameters in leukocytes and in plasma (levels of selected cytokines and chemokines analyzed by automated flow cytometry software and (ii) the daily recording of data for the presence or absence of signs and symptoms associated with SARS-Cov-2 infection. For the recording of immune monitoring 20mL blood samples will be taken at eight-time points throughout the 90 days of the stud.

Double blinded randomized clinical trial designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine combined with azithromycin compared to hydroxychloroquine monotherapy in patients hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia.

This study plans to learn more about the effects of a medicine called ruxolitinib on the progression of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease of 2019), the medical condition caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Ruxolitinib is FDA-approved for the treatment of myelofibrosis, polycythemia vera, and graft-versus-host disease. This study intends to define the impact of ruxolitinib on the severity and progression of COVID-19. This drug might to lower the hyperinflammation caused by the virus, which would prevent damage to the lungs and possibly other organs. The study will recruit patients who have been diagnosed with COVID-19. The goal is to recruit 80 patients.

This study is for patients that are hospitalized for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The purpose of this study is to see whether neutralizing interleukin-8 (IL-8) with BMS-986253 can help improve the health condition of participants infected with COVID-19. This is the first in-human study of this investigational product specifically in patients with severe COVID-19. Currently there are no FDA approved medications that improve the chance of survival in patients diagnosed with COVID-19. However there are usual treatments currently being used to help treat COVID-19 patients and BMS-986253 will be compared to these standard of care treatments in this study.

The purpose of this study is to determine if a CGRP receptor antagonist may potentially blunt the severe inflammatory response at the alveolar level, delaying or reversing the path towards oxygen desaturation, Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), requirement for supplemental oxygenation, artificial ventilation or death in patients with COVID-19 on supplemental oxygen. * BHV-3500, formerly "vazegepant", is now referred to as "zavegepant" (za ve' je pant). The World Health Organization (WHO) International Nonproprietary Names (INN) Expert Committee revised the name to "zavegepant" which was accepted by the United States Adopted Names (USAN ) Council for use in the U.S. and is pending formal adoption by the INN for international use.

The clinical study aims at assessing whether early administration of Tocilizumab compared to late administration of Tocilizumab can reduce the number of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia who require mechanical ventilation. The clinical study includes patients with recent-onset COVID-19 pneumonia who require hospital care, but not invasive or semi-invasive mechanical ventilation procedures.

Single blind randomized clinical trial designed to evaluate the efficacy of the combination of hydroxychloroquine and dexamethasone as treatment for severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) related to coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19). We hypothesize that dexamethasone (20 mg for 5 days followed by 10 mg for 5 days) combined with 600 mg per day dose of hydroxychloroquine for 10 days will reduce the 28-day mortality compared to hydroxychloroquine alone in patients with severe ARDS related COVID-19.