Overview of the First 6 Months of Clinical Trials for COVID-19 Pharmacotherapy: The Most Studied Drugs
SARS-CoV-2 rapidly spread from China until it was defined a pandemic by WHO in March 2020. Related scientific papers have rapidly extended information regarding the diagnosis, treatment and epidemiology of COVID-19 infection. To date, no vaccine or definitive treatment is available to defeat the vir...
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doaj-78a8457986a14deaa18e92fcb519cacb2020-11-25T03:54:00ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652020-08-01810.3389/fpubh.2020.00497554589Overview of the First 6 Months of Clinical Trials for COVID-19 Pharmacotherapy: The Most Studied DrugsMaria Laura Idda0Dorian Soru1Matteo Floris2Matteo Floris3Institute for Genetic and Biomedical Research, National Research Council, Sassari, ItalyIndependent Consultant, Ovodda, ItalyInstitute for Genetic and Biomedical Research, National Research Council, Sassari, ItalyDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, ItalySARS-CoV-2 rapidly spread from China until it was defined a pandemic by WHO in March 2020. Related scientific papers have rapidly extended information regarding the diagnosis, treatment and epidemiology of COVID-19 infection. To date, no vaccine or definitive treatment is available to defeat the virus and therapies are mainly based on existing drugs used to treat other conditions. Existing therapies used in several clinical trials work by affecting the biology of COVID-19 and/or counteracting the harmful host excessive immune response. Here, we have reviewed 526 ongoing clinical trials for COVID-19 to provide a perspective on the first 6 months of global efforts to identify an effective therapy. The drugs most actively tested in various centers include hydroxychloroquine, ritonavir, azithromycin, tocilizumab, lopinavir chloroquine and ivermectin. Our analysis shows that most clinical trials focus on a small number of candidate drugs (namely hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine representing 25% of total clinical trials) while underestimating the potential of other promising drugs. A global coordination in clinical trial management could avoid duplications and increase the effectiveness of the response to the global challenge.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00497/fullclinical trial (2.172)COVID-19coronavirus (2019-nCoV)COVID-19 (condition)COVID-19 infection |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Maria Laura Idda Dorian Soru Matteo Floris Matteo Floris |
spellingShingle |
Maria Laura Idda Dorian Soru Matteo Floris Matteo Floris Overview of the First 6 Months of Clinical Trials for COVID-19 Pharmacotherapy: The Most Studied Drugs Frontiers in Public Health clinical trial (2.172) COVID-19 coronavirus (2019-nCoV) COVID-19 (condition) COVID-19 infection |
author_facet |
Maria Laura Idda Dorian Soru Matteo Floris Matteo Floris |
author_sort |
Maria Laura Idda |
title |
Overview of the First 6 Months of Clinical Trials for COVID-19 Pharmacotherapy: The Most Studied Drugs |
title_short |
Overview of the First 6 Months of Clinical Trials for COVID-19 Pharmacotherapy: The Most Studied Drugs |
title_full |
Overview of the First 6 Months of Clinical Trials for COVID-19 Pharmacotherapy: The Most Studied Drugs |
title_fullStr |
Overview of the First 6 Months of Clinical Trials for COVID-19 Pharmacotherapy: The Most Studied Drugs |
title_full_unstemmed |
Overview of the First 6 Months of Clinical Trials for COVID-19 Pharmacotherapy: The Most Studied Drugs |
title_sort |
overview of the first 6 months of clinical trials for covid-19 pharmacotherapy: the most studied drugs |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Public Health |
issn |
2296-2565 |
publishDate |
2020-08-01 |
description |
SARS-CoV-2 rapidly spread from China until it was defined a pandemic by WHO in March 2020. Related scientific papers have rapidly extended information regarding the diagnosis, treatment and epidemiology of COVID-19 infection. To date, no vaccine or definitive treatment is available to defeat the virus and therapies are mainly based on existing drugs used to treat other conditions. Existing therapies used in several clinical trials work by affecting the biology of COVID-19 and/or counteracting the harmful host excessive immune response. Here, we have reviewed 526 ongoing clinical trials for COVID-19 to provide a perspective on the first 6 months of global efforts to identify an effective therapy. The drugs most actively tested in various centers include hydroxychloroquine, ritonavir, azithromycin, tocilizumab, lopinavir chloroquine and ivermectin. Our analysis shows that most clinical trials focus on a small number of candidate drugs (namely hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine representing 25% of total clinical trials) while underestimating the potential of other promising drugs. A global coordination in clinical trial management could avoid duplications and increase the effectiveness of the response to the global challenge. |
topic |
clinical trial (2.172) COVID-19 coronavirus (2019-nCoV) COVID-19 (condition) COVID-19 infection |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00497/full |
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