Wake Forest Baptist Health Enrolling Patients in COVID-19 Drug Treatment Trial

Wake Forest Baptist Health is enrolling patients in a new Phase 2 clinical trial to determine whether drugs already in use could be repurposed to treat COVID-19. The health system is one of just 10 initial sites selected for the nationwide trial. 

Enrolled patients will be split into groups and randomly assigned to either the control group or one of four drugs that have already been approved for other uses. If researchers determine a drug isn't effective in treating the virus, it will be removed from the study. More promising treatments will be researched further.

Dr. Clark Files, co-principal investigator for the trial's Wake Forest Baptist site, says most of the drugs selected target the body's immune response. 

“There are a lot of aspects of severe COVID-19 that are similar to other severe infections where the problem really becomes ... not necessarily only the virus that's causing trouble, but the body's response to the virus that causes a lot of trouble,” he says.

Files says the goal is to reduce mortality, and the amount of time patients spend on ventilators. 

So far, 15 Wake Forest Baptist patients with severe COVID-19 have been enrolled in the trial. 

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