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.
‘The clinical trial provides strong evidence that lopinavir-ritonavir is not an effective treatment for patients hospitalized with COVID-19.’
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"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.
23% who received lopinavir-ritonavir and 22% allocated to usual care died within 28 days.
Source-Medindia