WHO's study finds 4 repurposed drugs that have no effect on COVID-19 mortality rate

The interim results of a study conducted by WHO revealed conclusive evidence about the ineffectiveness of Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquine, Lopinavir/Ritonavir and Interferon for the treatment of COVID-19. As per WHO's Solidarity Therapeutics Trial, the repurposed drugs have little to no effect on the mortality rate among coronavirus patients. The aim of this study was to find out the effect of these drugs on the mortality rate, initiation of ventilation and duration of hospital stay. This study includes participants from over 30 countries and is touted as 'the world’s largest randomized control trial on COVID-19 therapeutics'. WHO study on repurposed drugs The Solidarity Therapeutics Trials were undertaken by 405 hospitals in 30 countries and a total of 11,266 adults were randomized for the study. A total of 2750 people were administered Remdesivir, 954 Hydroxychloroquine, 1411 Lopinavir, 651 Interferon plus Lopinavir, 1412 only Interferon, and 4088 were given no study drug. Following the primary results, the trials for Hydroxychloroquine and Lopinavir were discontinued as they did not show any benefits. The results of the study, which is currently under review for publication in a medical journal, are available on the preprint server medRxiv. Read | WHO Says Safety 'primary Focus' After Johnson & Johnson Halts COVID-19 Vaccine Trials "The mortality findings contain most of the randomized evidence on Remdesivir and Interferon and are consistent with meta-analyses of mortality in all major trials," read the study. Read | WHO Lauds India For Helping Myanmar With 3000 Vials Of Antiviral Drugs To Fight COVID-19 ICMR on WHO's Solidarity Therapeutics Trial Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) was an active partner in Solidarity Therapeutics Trial conducted under the guidance of the World Health Organization. ICMR issued a statement after the interim results from the study were revealed by WHO. Calling it a 'well-coordinated national effort', ICMR hailed Dr Sheela Godbole who headed the study led by ICMR-National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) of Pune. Read | WHO Says COVID-19 Puts Global Fight Against Tuberculosis At Risk, Calls For Urgent Action As per the statement, head of ICMR Division of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases Dr Samiran Panda said, "The trial comprised 26 actively randomizing sites with 937 participants in India. We are grateful to the trial participants and their families for contributing to these crucial findings." Read | WHO Chief Scientist Says Young People May Have To Wait For COVID-19 Vaccine Until 2022 The official statement further informed that aside from contributing one-tenth participants in the WHO trial, ICMR also conducted a PLACID trial for convalescent plasma which showed no benefit of it in COVID-19 treatment. Read | WHO Chief: COVID-19 Vaccine Will Be Allocated Based On ACT-Accelerator Principles Read | WHO Backs Remdesivir Trial Data After Gilead Terms It Inconsistent With 'robust Evidence' (With inputs from ANI)

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WHO's study finds 4 repurposed drugs that have no effect on COVID-19 mortality rate

WHO study reveals that Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquine, Lopinavir/Ritonavir & Interferon have no effect on the mortality rate in COVID-19 cases.

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