NIH to start 'flurry' of large studies of potential Covid-19 treatments

The NIH is preparing to launch a "flurry" of large clinical trials that test therapies for Covid-19 that go beyond the limited arsenal currently being used. These new trials will range from studying antiviral monoclonal antibodies to treat Covid-19 to studies testing blood thinners in very sick Covid-19 patients to prevent problems caused by blood clots. NIH Director Francis Collins tells STAT that all these studies will be “really well-powered, rigorously designed clinical trials.” The plan for these new studies comes at an especially crucial time for the pandemic response: Only two drugs — Gilead's remdesivir and the steroid dexamethasone — have shown any benefit for Covid-19 patients, but the pandemic, at least here in the U.S., seems to show few signs of abating. On each of the past two days, the country has recorded more than 1,000 deaths in a single day since early June, and is on track to cross 4 million cases in the coming days.