Inexpensive antidepressant could reduce the need for hospitalization in high-risk adults with COVID-19, study published in The Lancet Thursday.
The study was part of research into existing drugs to determine if they could be reused to treat the coronavirus.
A selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) known as fluvoxamine and sold under the brand name Luvox, among others, has been administered to 1,500 patients in Brazil who were recently infected and assessed as being at risk for get seriously ill.
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Researchers tested the pill, which is used for depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, because it was known to reduce inflammation and showed promise in smaller studies.
The drug was chosen in the hope that it might help prevent cytokine storms, the immune response that causes major inflammation and is believed to be the cause of many deaths in patients with COVID-19.
The researchers said a 10-day course of fluvoxamine costs around $ 4. In comparison, IV antibody treatments cost around $ 2,000 and Merck’s experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 costs around $ 700 per course. Some experts predict that various treatments will eventually be used in combination to fight the coronavirus.
In the trial, 741 patients received fluvoxamine while 756 volunteers took the placebo. The average age of the participants was 50 years and 58% were women.
Of those on treatment, 79 (11%) required emergency hospitalization, while 119 (16%) of those taking the placebo required treatment.
The researchers admitted that the trial had limitations, especially since it is still not clear who exactly is most at risk of developing serious illness as a result of coronavirus infection.
“There is no standard of care for the early treatment of COVID-19 and various expert groups are promoting different approaches, including some of those evaluated in this trial and in previous ones,” the researchers wrote.
“In addition, we have a very poor understanding of who is most at risk for disease progression because some patients with many risk factors recover quickly, while others with less established risk factors do not.” , they said.
The researchers also noted that participants had a higher hospitalization rate than in other similar trials, “thus allowing inferences about the effects of treatment in this higher risk population.”
The study also noted that when the trial began, the vaccines were not widely available in Brazil, but became more widely available as the study progressed, and some participants were vaccinated while others were not.
“Although we changed the inclusion criteria and allowed vaccinated patients during the trial, we believe this had minimal effect on the primary outcome, as only 86 (6%) of 1,497 reported at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at the end of the trial, ”the researchers said.
The larger project looked at eight existing drugs to see if they could work against the virus. The project is still testing a hepatitis drug, but all the others – including metformin, hydroxychloroquine, and ivermectin – have failed.
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