“No beneficial effect” of hydroxychloroquine, according to a clinical trial major

Hydroxychloroquine shows “no beneficial effect” for the sick of the COVID-19 according to the study Recovery.

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June 5, 2020 13h54

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“No beneficial effect” of hydroxychloroquine, according to a clinical trial major

Agence France-Presse

PARIS — hydroxychloroquine shows “no beneficial effect” for the sick of the COVID-19, according to the officials of the clinical trial british Recovery, which on Friday announced the judgment in the “immediate” inclusion of new patients for this treatment.

Recovery, the first clinical trial major to deliver strong results expected, was one of the only ones not to have suspended his tests on hydroxychloroquine after a controversial paper in the Lancet, removed from, that pointed the finger at the inefficiency, or even the detrimental effect, of the molecule is controversial.

After an analysis of the first results, “we concluded that there was no beneficial effect of hydroxychloroquine in patients hospitalized with the COVID-19”, said the researchers of Recovery in a press release.

“So we decided to stop the recruitment of participants for the arms [part of a trial for a particular treatment, editor’s note] hydroxychloroquine trial Recovery, with immediate effect,” they added.

Recovery is a randomized controlled clinical trial (patients selected by a random draw), a method of experimentation is considered to be the most robust for drug testing. It is carried out in the Uk on more than 11 000 patients in 175 hospitals to evaluate the effectiveness of several treatments against the COVID-19. The tests on the other tracks of treatment continue.

The party hydroxychloroquine has concerned 1542 patients who received the drug, compared to 3132 patients who received standard support.

The researchers conclude that there is no significant difference between the two groups, nor was the mortality at 28 days, or the duration of hospitalization.

“It is disappointing that the treatment is ineffective, but it allows us to focus on the care and research of the drug more promising,” said Peter Horby, the main responsible for the test.

The IHU-Marseille calls for caution

While this treatment has been prescribed heavily in many countries “in the absence of reliable information”, “these findings should change medical practice around the world and demonstrate the importance of randomized trials to large scale to enable decisions to be made on the efficacy and safety of treatments,” added his colleague, Martin Landray.

A study published in the medical journal the Lancet on 22 may concluded that hydroxychloroquine was not beneficial to the sick of the COVID-19 hospitalized, and could even be detrimental. But this was an observational study based on data collected over 96 000 patients around the world by an american company, Surgisphere, which has since been questioned.

The study had led to the suspension arm hydroxychloroquine of two important essays: Solidarity, held under the auspices of the world Health Organization (WHO), and the european trial Discovery.

But after the outpouring of criticism of the study from the Lancet finally retracted Thursday, WHO took a step back this week by announcing the resumption of its trial and Discovery plans to do the same.

On Wednesday, another randomized clinical trial conducted in the United States and Canada, involving fewer patients in Recovery, has concluded that the molecule is ineffective in the prevention of Covid-19.

“This new one, even if it is not positive, is a relief for thousands of scientists and physicians who need a real proof about the effectiveness or not of hydroxychloroquine,” said Parastou Donyai, the university of Reading, after the announcement of Recovery.

The IHU-Marseille, led by the now famous French researcher Didier Raoult, a staunch defender of the molecule, for its part, has called for caution : “We hope that these past two weeks have taught the observers that it was necessary to read the articles and analyze the data before you react to hot press releases”.

Le Soleil