COVID-19 Clinical Trials and Expanded Access

The world is currently facing a pandemic with the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) which leads to the disease of COVID-19. Risk factors for a poor outcome of COVID-19 have so far been identified as older age and co-morbidity including chronic respiratory conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and current smoking status. Previous studies found, that vitamin D deficiency is more prevalent among patients with these risk factors. There are observational studies reporting independent associations between low serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (the major circulating vitamin D metabolite) and susceptibility to acute respiratory tract infection. Vitamin D substitution in patients with COVID-19 who show a vitamin D deficiency should therefore be investigated for efficacy and safety. The study is designed as a randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind study. The objective of the study is to test the hypothesis that patients with vitamin D deficiency suffering from COVID-19 treated under standardized conditions in hospital will recover faster when additionally treated with a single high dose of vitamin D compared to standard treatment only.

The present study aims to investigate the endothelial vasodilator function in patients with COVID-19

This is a Phase I study that randomized, double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Parallel Group, Single Ascending Dose Study to evaluate Safety, Tolerability and Pharmacokinetics of CT-P59 in Healthy Subjects.

Olfactory and gustatory disorders are prevalent symptoms in European COVID-19 patients. This study aimed to detect these disturbances among positive COVID-19 patients (symptom not initially highlighted by the patient and not sought by caregivers) in order to allow early management of olfactory and gustatory dysfunction.

In Italy there are about 5000 patients with dependent transfusion thalassemia (source Italian Thalassemia and Hemoglobinopathies - SITE) and a smaller number, currently not definable, of patients with sickle cell anemia in chronic transfusion. A recent study in the Lombardy region identified the positivity of anti-Covid-19 antibodies in 4.5-7% of asymptomatic donors (Valenti L et al). As already known, a preliminary study conducted in Italy (Motta I et al, Hussain FA et al, Taher A et al) reported only 11 cases of symptomatic infection all with benign evolution. Currently there are 15 reported cases (12 thalassemias and 3 sickle cell anemias). 75% of the cases have been identified in Lombardy. Our hypothesis is that in a percentage of polytransfused patients a transmission of the virus may have developed that stimulated the production of protective antibodies. This could be an explanation of the low contagiousness and severity of the infection in polytransfused patients. Currently no data are available for this purpose. This study will be conducted in collaboration with the Microbiology Unit and involves the determination of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (anti-s1 and s2) by CLIA method with a high sensitivity (94.7%) and specificity (98.5%).

Pandemic period could affect the disabled children's rehabilitation and follow-up negatively because of preventive measures and this could create adverse results on their parents. In this research, it is aimed to determine the positive and negative effects of pandemic on parents and disabled children and to provide an insight for future solutions.

A novel coronavirus, designated corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in a Pandemic at the time of writing (27th April) the reported number of confirmed cases exceeding 3 million and over 200000 associated deaths. The burden on global critical care has been considerable. As of 24th April there have been 8752 UK critical care admissions with services under considerable strain, and a mortality rate over 50%. Survivors of critical illness will require significant input. This study will perform mixed methods to provide rich data on risk stratification and recovery from critical illness. Recovery from a novel disease requires documenting and the study reports physical and psychological changes following hospital discharge in survivors. In addition qualitative interviews are being conducted with patients who have survived and been discharged from critical care along with their relatives and treating professionals, to better understand their needs during recovery.

The purpose of this research study is to find out if CCP is safe and to determine the safest and most effective level of anti-viral antibody when given to people admitted to the hospital with confirmed COVID-19 infection. Participants enrolled on this study will be transfused with 2 units of CCP through an IV. These units will be given one at a time 4 to 24 hours apart. Participants will be randomized to receive either 2 units with standard antibody levels as recommended by the FDA or 2 units with an antibody level higher than that recommended by the FDA. This study is experimental and CCP is investigational and has not been approved by the FDA for the treatment of COVID-19. The CCP is collected per FDA guidelines from persons recovered from COVID-19 infection. The plasma contains antibodies and possibly other properties that inhibit the virus. The investigators do not know if the level of antibodies present in the CCP will make a difference in how the participant's body is able to fight the infection and hope to learn that in this study.

On 31 December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was formally notified about a cluster of cases of pneumonia in Wuhan City, China. On 7 January the responsible virus was isolated and its genome sequence was shared on 12 January. It was named as COVID-19, a novel Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. It is a member of the Corona virus family which is RNA enveloped viruses. Very rapidly the virus emerged as pandemic. Now it is dominating the lives of every people of this universe. Management of the COVID-19 relies on mainly supportive care and oxygen supplementation via non-invasive or mechanical ventilation in critical cases. Patients who are critically ill may also require vasopressor support and antibiotics for secondary bacterial infections. There is no vaccine or highly effective antiviral drugs for COVID-19. Currently there is a tremendous effort around the world to develop effective preventive and therapeutic treatment for this disease. World Health Organization has launched a non-blinded clinical trial (SOLIDARITY) to evaluate four candidate treatments (remdesivir, lopinavir/ritonavir, lopinavir/ritonavir/ interferon beta-1a, and chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine) versus standard of care in 18 countries worldwide. RECOVERY trial one of the largest trials to see the efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine revealed that they are no clear cut clinical benefit for COVID-19. Other drugs in the SOLIDARTY trial are quite expansive for resource limited countries like Bangladesh. Study Published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine advocates further research into Ivermectin for COVID-19 Treatment. The spotlight on Ivermectin was brought by Australian researchers from Monash University who demonstrated its efficacy against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in vitro studies. In different study Doxycycline also showed promising results in treatment of COVID 19 infection. It is highly lipophilic antibiotics that are known to chelate zinc component of matrix metalloprotienases (MMP). Corona viruses are known to rely heavily of MMPs for survival, cell infiltration and replication. It also has an anti-inflammatory effect which might be effective in combating cytokine storm of Covid-19 infection. So it have been planned to conduct an experimental clinical trial using combination of ivermectin and doxycycline for treatment of COVID 19 along with the other standard care.

This study will evaluate the efficacy of oral Foipan® (camostat mesilate) compared with the current standard of care in reducing the duration of viral shedding of SARS-CoV-2 virus in patients with mild-moderate COVID-19 disease. Patients will attend 4 study visits over a period of up to 28 days.