The UK started the world\u2019s largest randomized clinical trial of potential coronavirus (COVID-19) treatments is well underway in the UK as part of the race to find a treatment.<\/p>\n
A number of promising treatments are being tested and, if the science supports it, will be given to National Health Service\u00a0(NHS) patients as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n
Definitive results on whether the treatments are safe and effective are expected within months and, if positive, they could potentially benefit hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.<\/p>\n
Almost 1,000 patients from 132 different hospitals have been already recruited in just 15 days and thousands more are expected to join the Randomized Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy (RECOVERY) trial in the coming weeks, making it the largest randomized controlled trial of potential COVID-19 treatments in the world.<\/p>\n
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said \u201cThe coronavirus outbreak is the biggest public health emergency in a generation and we are doing everything we can to fight it on all fronts through our evidence-based action plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UK is leading the way on research in the race to find treatments and we have now launched the largest trial in the world, pooling resources with our world-leading life science sector.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs one of three major trials funded by the government, this marks a major milestone in our battle against coronavirus and offers renewed hope that together we can beat this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said \u201cThe UK has world-leading life sciences and research sectors and, because of our joined up healthcare and health research system, we have been able to get hundreds of patients involved in this clinical trial in just 2 weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
This marks a significant step in identifying treatments for coronavirus that could benefit patients and underpins our science-backed approach to fighting this virus.<\/p>\n
The trial is being coordinated by researchers at the University of Oxford, led by Peter Horby, Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases and Global Health in the Nuffield Department of Medicine, and Martin Landray, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the Nuffield Department of Population Health.<\/p>\n
The study has received \u00a32.1 million from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Department of Health and Social Care, through the\u00a0National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). It is part of a wider \u00a320 million rapid research response investment by the government to support looking at ways to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.<\/p>\n
Peter Horby, Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases and Global Health in the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, said: \u201cThe RECOVERY trial will provide much-needed evidence on the best care for patients with COVID-19. The more patients that are enrolled, the sooner we will know how best to treat this disease.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very grateful to those patients who are participating and to the hospital and research staff who are helping us to find the best treatments.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The UK started the world\u2019s largest randomized clinical trial of potential coronavirus (COVID-19) treatments is well underway in the UK as part of the race to find a treatment. A number of promising treatments are being tested and, if the science supports it, will be given to National Health Service\u00a0(NHS) patients as quickly as possible. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":54120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6031,984],"tags":[6347,8520,8675],"yoast_head":"\n