RE: 3p+ today7 Mar 2022 08:25
Very encouraging re AZD1656.
"The ARCADIA Phase II multi-centre study was undertaken in over 150 diabetic patients hospitalised due to moderate to severe COVID-19 infection. Patients received either AZD1656 or placebo daily for up to 21 days in addition to standard care and antidiabetic medications. To be clear, all patients in the trial received standard of care treatment (over 70% in both groups received dexamethasone) with those in the drug group receiving AZD1656 in addition. No deaths occurred in those receiving AZD1656 in the first week of treatment, whereas six deaths occurred in the placebo group. All-cause mortality rates within 28 days of admission favoured the AZD1656 patients, with only four deaths occurring, versus nine deaths in the placebo group.
Thirty patients in the AZD1656 group (38%) were discharged from hospital within seven days of admission, but only 18 patients (25%) receiving placebo treatment. AZD1656 treatment was shown to be safe and well-tolerated.
In addition to the clinical benefit observed in this high-risk patient group, the immunological data gathered from the trial strongly supports SGSC's rationale for the ARCADIA study by confirming that AZD1656 is an immunomodulator which damps down the inflammatory response characteristic of COVID-19 infection, while enhancing the virus-specific immune response.
Thus far, only a small number of repurposed or repositioned drugs have demonstrated benefits in treating COVID-19 infection in early clinical study1. SGSC believes that AZD1656 has the potential to become a valuable addition to the very small number of available COVID-19 drug treatments, offering a safer and more effective alternative to immunomodulatory treatments such as dexamethasone and other steroids, infused anti-cytokines (such as tocilizumab) and Janus kinase inhibitors2.
AZD1656 has an important advantage over small molecule and antibody antiviral agents in that due to its immodulatory effect, efficacy is unlikely to be compromised in treating disease caused by new coronavirus variants. The highly infectious Omicron variant appears to be associated with milder disease symptoms and lower hospitalisation rates, but we may not be so fortunate with future variants"
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