The World Health Organization stated on Wednesday that a global clinical study of three novel candidate medications for the treatment of COVID-19 would begin soon.
According to the World Health Organization, the scheme is part of the most recent phase of global solidarity clinical trials to find effective treatments for COVID-19.
The medications – artesunate, imatinib, and infliximab – will be studied on hospitalised COVID-19 patients in 52 countries as part of the Solidarity PLUS initiative.
There have been over 203 million instances of the disease worldwide as of Wednesday.
Last Friday, the world passed the 200 million case threshold, barely six months after passing the 100 million mark.
Director-General of WHO, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, stressed the crucial need for more effective and affordable COVID-19 medicines during a news conference in Geneva.
“We already have many tools to prevent, test for and treat COVID-19, including oxygen, dexamethasone and IL-6 blockers.
“But we need more, for patients at all ends of the clinical spectrum, from mild to severe disease.
And we need health workers that are trained to use them in a safe environment,” he said.
An independent panel chose the three medications based on their ability to reduce the risk of death in COVID-19 patients.
They’ve already been utilized to treat a variety of ailments.
Artesunate is a medicine for severe malaria, imatinib is used for certain cancers, including leukemia, while infliximab is used to treat Crohn’s Disease, rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases of the immune system.
Manufacturers IPCA, Novartis and Johnson & Johnson, donated the drugs for the trial.
Solidarity PLUS is the world’s largest worldwide partnership, involving thousands of researchers from over 600 hospitals from all 194 WHO member states.
Finland is one of 52 countries participating in the COVAX vaccination solidarity program, which is 16 more than the first Solidarity Trial.
The first Solidarity Trial, which took place in 2020, found that Remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir, and interferon had little or no effect on hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
