UW Medicine Seeks COVID Patients For New Treatment Study

Seattle WA

21 July, 2021

4:16 PM

Description

SEATTLE — University of Washington researchers are recruiting volunteers who have recently tested positive for COVID-19 to participate in a nationwide study of four potential treatments. The clinical trial is part of an effort launched by the National Institutes of Health early in the pandemic to develop effective therapies for COVID-19 patients. Harborview Medical Center's AIDS Clinical Trials Unit will conduct the latest study, known as ACTIV-2, joining more than 200 sites across the nation. Participants must have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 within 10 days and begun to experience symptoms. "The goal of ACTIV-2 is to identify treatments that can keep people who acquire COVID-19 from getting sicker and requiring hospitalization," said Dr. Rachel Bender Ignacio, director of the AIDS Clinical Trials Unit. "These treatments also have the potential to help people with mild illness feel better more quickly, return to work faster, or prevent long COVID." Researchers will measure the safety and effectiveness of four treatments, and measure how well they decrease "viral shedding," reducing transmission risks. Each participant will get one of the four treatments or a placebo. BMS-986414 and BMS-986413 are monoclonal antibodies administered as two subcutaneous injections (shots) given at one visit. Because they target different parts of SARS-CoV-2, the hope is that the combination therapy will improve efficacy, cover multiple variants, and reduce the likelihood that the virus will develop resistance to the treatment. (Rockefeller University and Bristol Myers Squibb, Phase 2 study) SAB-185 is the first polyclonal antibody (a treatment containing many different antibodies) to be evaluated in ACTIV-2. SAB-185 is derived from cows that have been genetically engineered to make human antibodies. Once the cows develop an immune response and generate antibodies against the spike protein on the surface of SARS-CoV-2, samples of their blood are collected and the antibodies are separated out and purified. SAB-185 is administered through an intravenous infusion. (SAB Biotherapeutics, Phase 2 study) SNG001 is a nebulized formulation of beta interferon being studied as an inhalant. SNG001 is a self-administered dosage that participants inhale once daily for 14 days at home. ACTIV-2 is the first U.S. study to evaluate SNG001 among non-hospitalized people with COVID-19. (Synairgen, Phase 2 study) BRII-196 plus BRII-198 are two monoclonal antibodies administered as separate infusions during a single visit. They were derived from antibodies made by people who had recovered from COVID-19. (Brii Biosciences, Phase 3 study) Those looking to learn more and patients who are interested in participating in the study can find more information about the trial online.