RE: SNG NHS Trial.18 Mar 2020 16:20
Can see the potential
Prof Ian Hall, Professor of Molecular Medicine, University of Nottingham, said:
“There are several clinical trials in the late stages of planning which aim to assess different drugs which could be used to treat COVID-19. The Synairgen trial, which has been given expedited approval by the regulatory authorities, involves administering a drug called interferon beta, which is a molecule which forms part of the lung’s own defence mechanism to fight off viruses. The idea behind the trial is that by giving more of this molecule to the lung this could help reduce the severity of infection with COVID-19, especially in those people who have reduced immune responses to the virus.
“Any new treatment for COVID-19 needs to be assessed properly to make sure it is safe and produces clinical benefit, and the intention of this trial is to evaluate both of these aspects when using interferon beta in patients with COVID-19 disease. The best way to do this is to undertake what is known as a randomised controlled trial, where neither the patient nor the doctor knows whether or not the patient receives the active drug or an inactive ‘placebo’. This allows an objective assessment of the drug’s effect to be analysed by the research team. By using the infrastructure provided by NIHR (the National Institute for Health Research), this study can be initiated in multiple sites across the country to allow results to be obtained as quickly as possible.
“If the trial shows that interferon beta is a useful treatment for COVID-19 disease, this would provide a way to reduce the severity of disease and potentially reduce death rates. At present, there are no proven treatments for COVID-19 other than supportive care, and so a positive result from the trial would represent a major step forward, especially as other approaches, such as using a vaccine to prevent disease, are likely to take much longer to develop.”
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