Teams at UC San Francisco (UCSF) and New York University School of Medicine will send the anti-inflammatory drug colchicine to people’s homes within 48 hours of them testing positive for coronavirus, according to a statement.
Dr. Priscilla Hsue, a professor of medicine at UCSF and principal investigator of the institution’s arm of the study, told Newsweek the trial will start in California on Tuesday.
As participants can stay at home during the study, Hsue said, “This decreases risk of exposure to others, use of PPE [personal protective equipment] and need for travel.”
She said she believes this “contactless” approach “can be easily scaled up to on a global level including resource limited settings.”
Colchicine is currently used to treat gout, as well as the genetic condition Familial Mediterranean Fever (which causes the body temperature to recurrently go out of normal range), and the blood vessel inflammation disorder Behcet’s syndrome.
Led by the Montreal Heart Institute in Canada, researchers in that country and soon Europe will also help conduct the study, named COLCORONA. The teams hope to recruit 6,000 COVID-19 patients in total.
To take part, participants must be aged at least 40 and be at risk of suffering COVID-19 complications, for instance by having diabetes, heart disease, chronic pulmonary disease or being aged 70 or above. They must also live in the geographic region of the study site so they can be sent the drugs. Some volunteers will be randomly assigned colchicine, while others will be given the placebo as the control group.
Those who fit these criteria are invited to apply by phone. If accepted, they will sign a digital consent form on a cell phone or computer. A courier will deliver the drug four hours after they are accepted. Between 15 to 30 days later, researchers will follow up with participants on the phone or via a video chat. People interested in taking part can call (877) 536-6837 or visit this website.
Hsue said in a statement: “This is one of the very few COVID-19 trials designed specifically for patients who have not yet been hospitalized.”
It is hoped colchicine will prevent what is known as a cytokine storm, where the immune system dangerously overreacts.
Hsue told Newsweek: “Colchicine has been used successfully for decades to reduce inflammation and recently in the COLCOT study was shown to significantly reduce cardiovascular events when taken after a heart attack. It has a well established safety profile.
“When taken early in the disease process, we hope that colchicine will significantly reduce inflammation and subsequent cytokine storm that is related to respiratory complications of COVID-19.”
She explained: “Ultimately the thought is by early intervention using a medication that is safe and doesn’t require intensive monitoring that we will have the ability to prevent hospitalizations and clinical progression among individuals with COVID-19.”
The team are among scientists racing to find drugs for COVID-19, as there are currently no specific ways to treat or prevent the disease caused by the coronavirus. The experimental anti-viral remdesivir, the anti-malaria drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, and convalescent plasma therapy—where the blood of COVID-19 survivors is pumped into current patients—are among potential treatments being investigated.
According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 2.4 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 worldwide, and 170,399 have died. Over 652,000 people have recovered. The Statista map below shows, the U.S. has the most known COVID-19 cases in the world.
This article has been updated with comment from Priscilla Hsue.
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