Favipiravir vs Hydroxychloroquine vs Control in COVID -19

Summary

Hydroxychloroquine is widely used to treat autoimmune diseases. Clinical investigation has found that a high concentration of cytokines were detected in the plasma of critically ill patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, therefore, hydroxychloroquine as anti-inflammatory agents may reduce this response in accord with their use in autoimmune disease where the cytokine response can be reduced. Favipiravir is an antiviral drug developed in Japan that the data sheet notes that it is a pyrazinecarboxamide derivative with activity against influenza viruses, west nile virus, yellow fever virus, foot and mouth disease virus as well as against flaviviruses, arenaviruses, bunyaviruses and alphaviruses. In February the drug was used for COVID-19 disease in China and was declared effective in treatment, and a report published (in press) comparing Favipiravir with Lopinavir /ritonavir suggested that Favipiravir was superior for prevention of disease progression and viral clearance. The objective of this pilot study is to compare three arms: hydroxychloroquine; favipiravir; standard care (no specific SARS-CoV-2 treatment) only, in symptomatic patients infected by SARS-CoV-2 in an open label randomized clinical trial. The difference between groups will allow an effect size to be determined for a definitive clinical trial.

Timeline

Start

2020-08-11

Primary completion

2021-03-06

Completion

2021-04-07

Publications

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• AlQahtani M, Kumar N, Aljawder D, Abdulrahman A, Mohamed MW, Alnashaba F, Fayyad MA, Alshaikh F, Alsahaf F, Saeed S, Almahroos A, Abdulrahim Z, Otoom S, Atkin SL. Randomized controlled trial of favipiravir, hydroxychloroquine, and standard care in patients with mild/moderate COVID-19 disease. Sci Rep. 2022 Mar 23;12(1):4925. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-08794-w.

Drugs

Indications