COVID-19 has many names; Coronavirus, Covid-19 or SARS-CoV-2. Regardless of what we call the virus, the worldwide pandemic the virus created is prompting an unprecedented amount of research and experimentation to find both therapeutic treatments for Covid-19 and a vaccine to help prevent the next seasonal wave, given Covid-19 is not simply going away anytime soon. Academic researchers, non-profits, companies, health organizations and governments are cooperating in ways and timeframes unimaginable just 8 weeks ago. Potential “cures” and “wonder drugs” ricochet around the globe faster than anyone can follow. Healthcare professionals are using hypothesis about mechanisms of action and relying on small observational studies to make treatment decisions in real time with both rapidly deteriorating patients to try to save lives and at the same time attempting to prevent stable patients from entering rapid decline which is a hallmark of Covid-19.
We at Integrated Biopharma and Pharma Solutions and SBLehrer LLC will be summarizing the data coming from trials going on around the world. Unfortunately the 24 hours new cycle can only focus on the sound bites and the latest disagreements between policy markets and the medical community. We hear of “anecdotal” evidence vs. “real science”. There is no time to fully explore what is working and what is not. Our goal is to highlight the actual work and results from studies around the world to aid in decision making.
We start with summarizing the actual clinical trials being conducted across the world for therapeutic solutions to treat Covid-19 patients. As of April 06, 2020, we count 41 trials with specific inclusion/exclusion criteria on patients with 34 separate treatments being started in 21 countries around the world. You will see the specific treatment arms proposed, the planned number of patients and expected timelines. We also are building a database of all the various vaccine approaches. To date we count 62 proposed vaccines with many more being discussed.
No one group looking at this can track all the trails. Most only focus on a few countries and will miss work occurring outside of well-known medical centers. Frequently the best learning happens away from the glare of the spotlight. Please help us make this as complete as possible. Reply to this post with trials we are missing.
Every 2 weeks we will send out the update and include any learnings we find along the way.
Hopefully in the next few weeks life will start to move away from the current “stay at home” and “social distancing” approach to managing the pandemic given we have no other tools to use today. We will see how the world slowly gets back to a new “normal”. The 24 hour new cycle will start to shift. However this work will continue. The world wants to be ready when new hot spots re-emerge.
Thanks for joining us on this journey