Yale School of Medicine has announced a randomised clinical trial led by the Yale Cardiovascular Research Group (YCRG) to study a therapy combination to reduce complications in Covid-19 patients.
YCRG director and medicine professor Alexandra Lansky is leading the COLSTAT clinical trial (Colchicine/Statin for the Prevention of COVID-19 Complications).
The trial will combine two broadly available medications, colchicine and rosuvastatin, to help reduce complications in Covid-19 infected patients.
For the study, a total of 466 patients will be enrolled across five different Yale New Haven Hospital sites for identifying a potential treatment for Covid-19.
Both medications have been used for decades and do not have adverse effects on patients infected with Covid-19.
Yale noted that the pandemic had sent shockwaves all over the global healthcare community, creating an urgent requirement for potential therapies to help infected patients.
Lansky and Tayyab Shah, a resident at Yale New Haven Hospital, have developed an idea to combine colchicine with the cholesterol-lowering medication rosuvastatin.
This was developed depending on an early report from the University of Athens published on 24 June stating the clinical benefit of colchicine.
Colchicine, an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat gout, inhibits the protein-coding genes on a molecular level and has the potential to reduce the SARS-CoV-2-induced inflammatory response.
Meanwhile, statins have direct anti-inflammatory effects by reducing chemokine or signalling proteins and adhesion molecules and preventing the hyperactivation of T-cells.
By combining the two with standard care, colchicine and rosuvastatin could reduce complications associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and myocardial injury or heart attack.
Alexandra Lansky said: “Everyone has come together and stepped up to the task of setting new standards, with enthusiasm and excitement to be part of a common mission to help win the battle against Covid-19.”
