Randomized Controlled Open Label Trial on the Use of Favipiravir Combined with Inhaled Interferon beta-1b in Hospitalized Patients with Moderate to Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia
Khamis et al.,
Randomized Controlled Open Label Trial on the Use of Favipiravir Combined with Inhaled Interferon beta-1b in..,
International Journal of Infectious Diseases, doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2020.11.008
Small 89 patient RCT comparing favipiravir and inhaled interferon with HCQ for moderate to severe COVID-19 pneumonia, not finding significant differences.
Khamis et al., 9 Nov 2020, peer-reviewed, 11 authors.
Abstract: International Journal of Infectious Diseases 102 (2021) 538–543
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
International Journal of Infectious Diseases
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijid
Randomized controlled open label trial on the use of favipiravir
combined with inhaled interferon beta-1b in hospitalized patients
with moderate to severe COVID-19 pneumonia
Faryal Khamisa,* , Hanan Al Naabib , Adil Al Lawatib , Zaiyana Ambusaidib ,
Mariam Al Sharjic, Umkulthum Al Barwanid , Nenad Pandaka , Zakariya Al Balushia ,
Maher Al Bahranie , Issa Al Salmif , Ibrahim Al-Zakwanig
a
Infection Diseases Unit, Department of Medicine, Royal Hospital, Muscat, Oman
Acute Medicine Unit, Department of Medicine, Royal Hospital, Muscat, Oman
c
Department of Nursing, Royal Hospital, Muscat, Oman
d
Department of Pharmacy, Royal Hospital, Muscat, Oman
e
Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Royal Hospital, Muscat, Oman
f
Department of Nephrology, Royal Hospital, Muscat, Oman
g
Department of Pharmacology & Clinical Pharmacy, College of Medicine & Clinical Pharmacy, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman
b
A R T I C L E I N F O
A B S T R A C T
Article history:
Received 21 September 2020
Received in revised form 3 November 2020
Accepted 4 November 2020
Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic effectiveness of favipiravir combined with inhaled interferon beta1b in adult patients hospitalized with moderate to severe COVID-19 pneumonia.
Methods: A randomized, open-label controlled trial of oral favipiravir in adults hospitalized with
moderate to severe COVID-19 pneumonia from June 22nd 2020 to August 13th 2020 was conducted.
Patients were randomly assigned to receive either a combination of favipiravir with interferon beta-1b by
inhalation aerosol or hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). The outcome endpoints included improvement in
inflammatory markers, lower length of hospital stay (LOS), discharges and lower overall 14-day mortality.
Results: A total of 89 patients underwent randomization with 49% (n = 44) assigned to favipiravir and 51%
(n = 45) assigned HCQ. The overall mean age was 55 14 years and 58% (n = 52) were males. There were
no significant differences in the inflammatory biomarkers at hospital discharge between the two groups;
C-reactive protein (p = 0.413), ferritin (p = 0.968), lactate dehydrogenase (p = 0.259) and interleukin 6 (p =
0.410). There were also no significant differences between the two groups with regards to the overall LOS
(7 vs 7 days; p = 0.948), transfers to the ICU (18.2% vs 17.8%; p = 0.960), discharges (65.9% vs 68.9%; p =
0.764) and overall mortality (11.4% vs 13.3%; p = 0.778).
Conclusions: No differences in clinical outcomes were found between favipiravir plus inhaled interferon
beta-1b and hydroxychloroquine in adults hospitalized with moderate to severe COVID-19 pneumonia.
© 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Infectious Diseases.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ncnd/4.0/).
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