Scientists in the United Kingdom are looking to enroll hundreds of volunteers in clinical trials of five new drugs that may be able to treat COVID-19, The Guardian newspaper reports on Monday, citing researchers
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st June, 2020) Scientists in the United Kingdom are looking to enroll hundreds of volunteers in clinical trials of five new drugs that may be able to treat COVID-19, The Guardian newspaper reports on Monday, citing researchers.
According to the newspaper, five new treatments will be tested across 30 of the UK's hospitals. The drugs include Heparin, a blood-thinner, and other treatments, including Medi3506 and Calquence, that are still undergoing clinical trials to treat a range of ailments including muscular, blood, and lung disorders. The antiviral treatment Bemcentinib is also on the list of drugs that will be trialed on COVID-19 patients, the newspaper said.
"These are small, rapidly deliverable studies if we get patients in so we're looking only to achieve around 60 patients for each arm of the trial to receive one of the drugs compared to usual standard of care," Professor Tom Wilkinson, the academic lead on the UK's Accord program, which features doctors, scientists, industry leaders, the National Health Service, and other state-funded research institutions, said as quoted by the newspaper.
Wilkinson added that only a handful of COVID-19 patients have so far volunteered to take part in the trials, and researchers are concerned that it will become even more difficult to recruit patients given that the number of active coronavirus disease cases in the United Kingdom is falling, the newspaper reported.
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock launched the Accord program in late April. The initiative was established to fast-track clinical trials of potential COVID-19 treatments.
On Sunday, the UK Department of Health and Social Care reported 1,936 new cases of the coronavirus disease and 113 new deaths, down from the 2,445 new positive tests and 215 fatalities confirmed the day before.
Since the start of the outbreak, public health officials in the UK have reported more than 274,700 cases of COVID-19. The country's coronavirus disease death toll has surpassed 38,400.
