Dr. Alexis Turgeon, a researcher at the CHU de Québec-Université Laval and professor at the Faculty of medicine of Laval University
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June 25, 2020 14h18
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A researcher from Quebec, is receiving$ 2.2 million to test two treatments versus the COVID-19
Elizabeth Fleury
The Sun
Two treatments found to be promising against the COVID-19 will be the subject of clinical trials pan-canadian and international under the responsibility of Dr. Alexis Turgeon, a researcher at the CHU de Québec-Université Laval and professor at the Faculty of medicine of Laval University. Dr. Turgeon has received a funding of almost$ 2.2 Million in the canadian Institutes of health research (CIHR) to test the effectiveness of the plasma of convalescents and anticoagulants in patients with the COVID-19 admitted to the intensive care unit.
The first treatment, which consists of administering plasma from patients cured of the COVID, is intended to provide human antibodies to neutralize the virus, explain the CHU de Québec and Université Laval in a statement released Thursday. The clinical trial is done in collaboration with Héma-Québec and canadian blood services, says it is.
The second treatment consists of the administration of anticoagulants, drugs that thin the blood, patients with severe the COVID-19 and cared for in the icu.
“The investigators want to assess if these drugs, heparins of low molecular weight or non-fractionated, can prevent the formation of microcaillots in the blood, a known complication of the COVID-19 and responsible for several deaths”, explain the CHU de Québec and Université Laval.
The addition of anticoagulants to the treatment of patients with the COVID-19 seems to increase their chances of survival and reduce the period of time before they are recovered, according to a study published in may by researchers from the hospital new york Mount Sinai in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
The researchers, who are based on the analysis of about 3000 patients hospitalized since mid-march, found that the mean survival time of the patients was increased from 14 days to 21 days with the addition of anticoagulants.
As for the plasma of convalescents, a study of the chinese, published in JAMA, showed earlier in June that patients severely affected by the COVID-19 and treated with plasma from donors cured of the disease had recovered five days more quickly than the other.
According to Dr. Alexis Turgeon, the two treatments will be the subject of clinical trials are avenues “a very promising, inexpensive, and very accessible when they are compared to several treatments in the study”.
“Thanks to the CIHR funding, we will not only be able to know if these two treatment options are effective in the treatment of critically ill patients admitted to the intensive care unit because of the COVID-19, but also ensure that we regulate their use in a judicious manner,” says Dr. Turgeon.
These clinical trials will be conducted in collaboration with a professor from the University of Manitoba, canadian researchers from the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group (including Dr. François Lauzier, Lynne Moore, respectively intensivist and epidemiologist at the CHU de Québec-Université Laval) as well as with other international researchers.
The recruitment of patients for these trials is expected to begin shortly, both in Québec and several research centres across Canada and elsewhere in the world, said in the press release.
Three other projects funded by CIHR
Three other professors of the Laval University and researchers at the CHU de Québec-Université Laval received funding in the announcement made on Thursday by the CIHR, Dr. Louis Flamand, of the Department of microbiology-infectiology and immunology, who studies the inflammatory response, Marie-Pierre Gagnon, Faculty of nursing sciences, whose work focuses on public health measures implemented in the French-speaking african countries in conflict during the pandemic, and Dr. Holly Witteman, the Department of family medicine and emergency medicine, who is interested in creating digital communication tools adaptable.
