Over 5,000 patients have now signed up to take part in the world’s largest clinical trial of potential COVID-19 treatments.
Patients at 165 hospitals are taking part in the Recovery trial in the UK.
The study is trialling four main treatments:
- Lopinavir-Ritonavir (commonly used to treat HIV)
- Low-dose Dexamethasone (a type of steroid, which is used in a range of conditions typically to reduce inflammation)
- Hydroxychloroquine (related to an anti-malarial drug)
- Azithromycin (a commonly used antibiotic)
The team has said it could return results as early as June.
The trial is being led by Peter Horby, professor of emerging infectious diseases and global health at Oxford University.
“The Recovery trial will provide much-needed evidence on the best care for patients with COVID-19,” he said.
“The more patients that are enrolled, the sooner we will know how best to treat this disease.
“We are very grateful to those patients who are participating and to the hospital and research staff who are helping us to find the best treatments.”
The US President Donald Trump has publicly backed Hydroxychloroquine as a treatment on a number of occasions; however, it’s effectiveness as a treatment has yet to be proven.
He said it could be “one of the biggest game-changers in the history of medicine” if used in conjunction with another of the treatments undergoing testing, the antibiotic Azithromycin.
The other drugs on the list lopinavir-ritonavir and low-dose dexamethasone are also used in conjunction to treat HIV.
