HIV Drug Combination Lopinavir-Ritonavir Not Effective for COVID-19 Patients

The clinical trial provides strong evidence that lopinavir-ritonavir is not an effective treatment for patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

In patients admitted to the hospital with COVID-19, the HIV drug combination lopinavir-ritonavir is not an effective treatment, according to the results of a study published in the journal The Lancet.

The RECOVERY (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 therapy) trial at 176 UK hospitals is the first clinical trial to report the effects of lopinavir-ritonavir in patients admitted to hospital with coronavirus.

Coronavirus
Coronaviruses infect animals, humans, and birds. Human coronaviruses, such as SARS, MERS, and 2019-nCoV cause respiratory distress and even death. The S protein is the infectious agent of the virus.

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The clinical trial provides strong evidence that lopinavir-ritonavir is not an effective treatment for patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

"Treatment of Covid-19 with the drug combination lopinavir-ritonavir has been recommended in many countries. However, results from this trial show that it is not an effective treatment for patients admitted to hospital with Covid-19," said study author Martin Landray from the University of Oxford, UK.

"Since our preliminary results were made public on June 29, 2020, the World Health Organization has halted lopinavir-ritonavir treatment groups involved in its SOLIDARITY trial and reported that their interim results are in line with those presented here," Landray added.

Study Details

1,616 patients in the RECOVERY trial were randomized to receive lopinavir-ritonavir.
3,424 patients received usual care alone.
Patients on lopinavir-ritonavir received 400 mg of lopinavir and 100 mg of ritonavir by mouth every 12 hours for 10 days or until discharge.
The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality.

Clinical trial results indicated that using lopinavir-ritonavir to treat patients hospitalized with Covid-19 does not reduce deaths within 28 days of treatment beginning.

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23% who received lopinavir-ritonavir and 22% allocated to usual care died within 28 days.

Source-Medindia

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Lopinavir and Ritonavir

This combination medication contains antiretroviral agents, prescribed for HIV-1 infection for adults and children aged above 14 days.
It works by decreasing the amount of HIV in the blood by blocking a vital enzyme named protease required for viral multiplication.
Update:
• Ritonavir+ Lopinavir combination is claimed to treat patients with COVID-19.
• New clinical trial ‘’The Efficacy of Lopinavir Plus Ritonavir and Arbidol Against Novel Coronavirus Infection (ELACOI)’’ was started in February 2020 to know the effectiveness of the combination for treating COVID-19.
• Another trial sponsored by Asan Medical Center, launched in March 2020 is comparing Lopinavir/Ritonavir with Hydroxychloroquine for treating patients with mild coronavirus disease (COVID-19).