Pedro Duque is informed about the progress of treatment projects financed by the COVID Fund


These projects are part of the first 15 investigations approved by the COVID Fund, managed by the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) and which aims to promote trials and programs that generate knowledge about the virus and seek short-term solutions that improve the lives of patients and the work of health professionals and researchers.

Specifically, these four projects, financed with more than 2 million euros, are aimed at finding treatments for patients affected by COVID-19. All of the centers of various autonomous communities participate.

The Minister of Science and Innovation, who has participated in the videoconference together with the Secretary General for Research, Rafael Rodrigo, and the Director of the ISCIII, Raquel Yotti, has offered the full support of the Ministry. The participants appreciated the speed with which the projects have been financed and the facilities to start them up with the utmost agility.

Projects

Spain was the second country to participate in the Solidarity project, promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and to which 90 countries have already joined. He San Carlos Clinical Hospital, in Madrid, coordinates the centers that collaborate and manages the start-up and monitoring. The Solidarity is a global, randomized, controlled trial looking for evidence on the efficacy of applying medications for COVID.

As explained in the video conference by Dr. Antonio Pórtoles, the study design is pragmatic and adaptive, and consists of comparing the application of four branches of different treatment guidelines already used with other indications in order to homogenize the great variety of treatments used in hospitals for COVID-19. Spain will participate with more than 20 centers.

Another trial is called TOCOVID, which is led by the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau in Barcelona and in which other hospitals in Barcelona and Madrid also participate. Dr. Pere Domingo explained that this study aims to verify whether the early administration of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin with or without tocilizumab prevents the progression of the infection, with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of patients who require intensive care or die.

The study has already started with about forty patients, all of them currently in Barcelona, ​​with no serious adverse effects detected during the course of the study.

The Foundation for Biomedical Research of the La Paz University Hospital, in Madrid, leads the PanCovid clinical trial, which aims to quickly identify effective treatments and strategies for the management of severe pneumonia associated with SARS-CoV-2. As explained by Dr. José Ramón Arribas, the study has 53 centers for the adult population and eleven for the pediatric population throughout Spain. It is the only pediatric clinical trial currently active in Spain.

This study wants to evaluate four different treatments with different medications, to which two others can be added if on the third day the patient does not evolve favorably. They already have 45 patients.

The fourth project present in the videoconference is managed by the Barclona Institute of Global Health (ISGLOBAL), in collaboration with various hospitals in Barcelona and Madrid, and is focused on preventing infection and seeking treatment for pregnant women, according to Dr. Clara Menéndez.

Experience with the SARS and MERS epidemics suggests that both infections are associated with negative effects of the pregnancy outcome, so this center has urgently wanted to carry out clinical research to help improve clinical management and reduce the risk of results. adverse in this epidemic.

Taking advantage of the experience already accumulated in its use in the prevention of malaria, the study wants to verify if the administration of hydroxychlorichine for 14 days prevents SARS-CoV-2 infection and the progression of the disease in pregnant women. To do this, they intend to recruit 714 women, among whom there must be symptomatic and asymptomatic infections and women without the virus, but who have had contact with people who have tested positive.



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