Anti-Coronavirus Therapy (ACT) to prevent COVID‑19 disease progression: a clinical trial platform
COVID‑19 has been diagnosed in millions of persons and has caused several hundred thousand deaths. Effective treatments are urgently required. We have created the « Anti-Coronavirus Therapies (ACT) to prevent COVID‑19 disease progression » trials platform to rapidly evaluate whether several commonly available interventions can be repurposed for the treatment of COVID‑19 disease. The specific aims of our research are to determine whether treatments that: (a) reduce the levels of virus in the body, (b) reduce the response by the body to the infection (i.e., inflammation), and (c) prevent blood clotting can prevent COVID‑19 disease progression. We will test these treatments alone and in combination in two trials: (1) Outpatient trial: here we are trying to patients diagnosed with COVID‑19 from needing to go to hospital. (2) Inpatient trial: here we are trying to prevent patients with COVID‑19 who are already hospitalized from being admitted to the intensive care unit and from dying. The trial started in Canada on April 21 and will eventually include about 4,000 patients from at least 100 centres and at least 12 countries around the world.
