News
No clinical benefit from use of lopinavir-ritonavir in hospitalised COVID-19 patients studied in RECOVERY

In March 2020, the RECOVERY trial was established as a randomised clinical trial to test a range of potential treatments for COVID-19, including lopinavir-ritonavir (an antiviral treatment commonly used to treat HIV). Over 11,800 patients have been enrolled from 176 ... Read more
Dexamethasone reduces mortality in hospitalised patients with respiratory complications of COVID-19

Professor Peter Horby and Professor Martin Landray, chief investigators of the Randomised Evaluation of COVid-19 thERapY (RECOVERY) trial, said: In March this year, RECOVERY was established as a randomised clinical trial to test a range of potential treatments for COVID-19, ... Read more
RECOVERY: Over 10,000 patients recruited!
Over 10,000 patients have are now enrolled in the NIHR-supported RECOVERY trial, which makes it currently the world's largest trial of potential COVID-19 treatments.
Led by ERGO's Peter Horby, and conducted in over 130 NHS hospitals across the UK, this national clinical trial aims to identify treatments that may be beneficial for adults hospitalised with confirmed COVID-19.
Peter writes: "We are very grateful to the 10,000 patients taking part in the RECOVERY trial, and to the hospital and research staff who are helping us to find the best treatments".
You can read more at https://www.recoverytrial.net/news/recovery-team-reflect-on-international-clinical-trials-day-2020
Watch Peter discussing the trial on our Talks and Videos page.
Remdesivir in adults with severe COVID-19: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre trial
Published 29th April in The Lancet, the results of a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre trial at ten hospitals in Hubei, China.
Read the full article at https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31022-9
RECOVERY: Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy
Led by ERGO's Peter Horby, this national clinical trial aims to identify treatments that may be beneficial for adults hospitalised with confirmed COVID-19. The trial is being conducted in over 130 NHS hospitals across the UK. Adult patients who have been admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are being invited to take part, and more information can be found at https://www.recoverytrial.net/.
Watch Peter discussing the trial on our Talks and Videos page.
ERGO group responds to the novel coronavirus outbreak
Many groups associated with ERGO are proud to be working on the novel coronavirus outbreak. Just a few of their activities are highlighted below;
A case record form (CRF) designed to enable the collection of standardised clinical data has been made available by the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) at https://isaric.tghn.org/. ISARIC is a global federation of clinical research networks, providing a proficient, coordinated, and agile research response to outbreak-prone infectious diseases. ISARIC’s purpose is to prevent illness and deaths from infectious diseases outbreaks.
ERGO is also part of the Platform for European Preparedness Against (Re-)emerging Epidemics (PREPARE) consortium, an EU funded network for harmonized large-scale clinical research studies of infectious diseases. PREPARE have circulated the standardised collection tool for nCoV among the Multi-centre EuRopean study of MAjor Infectious Disease Syndromes (MERMAIDS) clinical network which includes more than 50 hospitals and primary care clinics in 12 European countries.
The Global Health Network (TGHN), of which ERGO is a member, has produced a pop-up Coronavirus Knowledge Hub at https://coronavirus.tghn.org/, gathering protocols, tools, guidance, and resources to facilitate effective research and preparedness.
ISARIC responding to the Wuhan novel coronavirus outbreak

The International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) is adapting its existing tools, designed for emerging respiratory pathogens, for the current outbreak of global significance. Read more
Stepping up to the challenge: studying drug dosage during an Ebola outbreak
A specialist technique used to study drugs has been completed for the first time during an outbreak of Ebola virus disease.
The study published in eBiomedicine was a collaboration of researchers from Sierra Leone and the University’s of Glasgow, Oxford, Cambridge and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. It used pharmacokinetics – the measurement of the change in drug concentration in a person over time – to study an experimental drug called TKM-130803 for the treatment of Ebola virus disease during the 2015 outbreak in Sierra Leone.
Read the full article on the eBiomedicine site.
Dexamethasone reduces mortality in hospitalised patients with respiratory complications of COVID-19

Professor Peter Horby and Professor Martin Landray, chief investigators of the Randomised Evaluation of COVid-19 thERapY (RECOVERY) trial, said: In March this year, RECOVERY was established as a randomised clinical trial to test a range of potential treatments for COVID-19, ... Read more
Patients Recruited to Lassa Fever Study in Owo, Nigeria
After training the local team, a new observational study into Lassa fever has opened in Owo Federal Medical centre, and patients are already being recruited. The study hopes to improve the case management of Lassa fever by investigating the role of cardiovascular dysfunction, and identifying the most appropriate dose of ribavirin to use as treatment. Work on the study is supported by UK-PHRST, funded by UK aid from the Department of Health and Social Care.
Over 3000 patients for MERMAIDS-ARI, MERMAIDS-ARBO and PED-MERMAIDS!
Coordinated by the European-funded PREPARE network and supported by ERGO, MERMAIDS (The Multi-centre EuRopean study of MAjor Infectious Disease Syndromes) has now closed recruitment for three of its studies on acute respiratory infection, arboviral compatible febrile illness, and Sepsis-like syndrome in infants and ARI in children. 1524 patients were recruited for the ARI study, over 900 for the ARBO study and 705 for the pediatric study . A huge congratulations to all of the sites across Europe who worked with ERGO and PREPARE teams to achieve this fantastic result, particularly in MERMAIDS-ARI which represents the largest ever study of the pathogenesis of ARI. All sites promise exciting insights in the coming months and years.
Ribavirin Healthy Volunteers Study Open
Our Ribavirin Healthy Volunteers Study is now open for recruitment! The aim of the study is to validate a method of measuring a drug called ribacirin in the blood. Ribavirin is normally used to treat Hepatitis C and other diseases such as Lassa fever, which is a viral infection occuring in West Africa.
Volunteers will be compensated for their time. For more information, see https://ergo.tghn.org/volunteer/ribavirin-volunteer/
Articles
Evaluation of the efficacy and safety of intravenous remdesivir in adult patients with severe COVID-19: study protocol for a phase 3 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre trial
Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by a novel corinavirus (later named SARS-CoV-2 virus), was fistly reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China towards the end of 2019. Large-scale spread within ...
Global outbreak research: harmony not hegemony
To make clinical and biological observations within a timeframe that is likely to benefit patients during disease outbreaks, coordination of global research must match the speed of spread of novel ...
Scope, quality, and inclusivity of clinical guidelines produced early in the covid-19 pandemic: rapid review
Conclusions: Guidelines available early in the covid-19 pandemic had methodological weaknesses and neglected vulnerable groups such as older people. A framework for development of clinical guidelines during public ...
Features of 20 133 UK patients in hospital with covid-19 using the ISARIC WHO Clinical Characterisation Protocol: prospective observational cohort study
The largest prospective observational study to date provides a comprehensive picture of the patients’ outcomes and characteristics that have been hospitalised in the UK with covid-19. Age, gender, obesity and ...
Remdesivir in adults with severe COVID-19: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre trial
The Lancet - 29th April 2020 No specific antiviral drug has been proven effective for treatment of patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Remdesivir (GS-5734), a nucleoside analogue prodrug, ...