Lithuanians contribute to research on coronavirus drugs: find out if they can save lives

Since the spring of this year, the Santara Clinic of the Vilnius University Hospital has participated in a large international study “Solidarity”, which investigated how different drugs can affect the survival of patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Later, the Kaunas Clinics of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences became involved in this research.

Professor Laimonas Griškevičius, Director of the Center for Hematology, Oncology and Transfusion at Santara Clinics, and Professor Ligita Jančorienė, Director of the Center for Infectious Diseases at Santara Clinics, became co-authors of the huge study. The results of this study were recently summarized and published in The New England Journal of Medicine, one of the most prestigious medical journals in the world.

As Professor L. Griškevičius, coordinator of the clinical trial in Lithuania, told the Delfi portal, since COVID-19 is a new viral infection, it was not known how to treat patients suffering from it. Clinical trials were needed to elucidate this. One of them was the international Solidarity study mentioned above.

“When we found out about the Solidarity study, we did our best to get involved. Thanks to the mediation of the Lithuanian representative of the Ministry of Health at the World Health Organization (WHO), we were able to coordinate everything and start a clinical trial in Lithuania quite quickly. .

Santara clinics participated for the first time in the study. The absolute majority, more than 100, of our patients were included. At the end of the summer, the Kaunas clinics also joined the study ”, recalled Professor L. Griškevičius.

The Solidaridad study has a special scope. It has been carried out in around thirty countries, has involved more than 400 institutions and has involved more than 11,000 people. patients, including those from Lithuania.

“Several expertly selected drugs have been studied to see if they benefit COVID-19 patients. Those drugs were remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir, and interferon.

The essence of the study is that some of the randomly selected patients received one of the study drugs and the other part received only standard supportive care, ”recalled the interviewee.

What was given to a patient who agreed to participate in the study, a specific drug or a maintenance treatment, was not chosen by the doctor, but by a computer system. This was done by the random sampling method, where, regardless of the researcher or patient, certain information about the patient was filled in in the virtual space, of course with their written consent. The computer then randomly assigned the patient to standard care or to one of the medications listed above.

“Most of the patients in Lithuania received remdesivir. Furthermore, a significant number of patients are simply receiving supportive care ”, said Professor L. Griškevičius.

At present, the study has been tentatively completed and the data obtained from most of the patients included in it have been analyzed.

“The overall result is that none of the prescribed treatments have improved patient survival. This is very important news, as it has not been completely clear so far whether any of these drugs reduce mortality from COVID-19 infection.

Combining this study with other previous clinical trials has also shown that, for example, hydroxychloroquine or lopinavir are not beneficial in COVID-19 patients. However, the antiviral drug remdesivirasse may still benefit some patients, especially those with a mild, early, or low oxygen demand. “As can be seen in other studies, the duration of the disease is shortened in these patients and perhaps the survival of some patients may improve,” explained the interviewee.

According to L. Griškevičius, the study will continue for some time to gather more knowledge about remdesivir. The remdesivir treatment results will be re-analyzed and reviewed again.

“This is not the only study evaluating remdesivir. Another very important study compared remdesivir with maintenance treatment. That study showed that remdesivir shortened the duration of the disease. This means shortening the length of your hospital stay.

In addition, it provided more benefits to patients who received little oxygen (so-called ‘low flow’ therapy), possibly in terms of survival, ”said Professor L. Griškevičius.

Remdesivir was originally developed as an anti-Ebola drug. But it has been shown to work against many viruses, so research has begun to see if it can help with ailments caused by coronavirus.