Coronavirus control: the European trial Discovery in danger

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The European trial Discovery was one of the most ambitious clinical trials to find a cure for Covid-19 with four treatments tested and more than 3,200 participants, figures it is far from reaching.

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Launched on March 22, the Discovery trial was expected to give its first results about months later. Today, he struggles to keep his promises. The reason: the difficulty in recruiting the 3,200 patients. To date, there are only 741, including only one outside of France, in Luxembourg.

What should have been a European initiative seems to be badly started. Several regulatory reasons in particular explain this delay in ignition in other countries.
But the situation is such that the test itself is now compromised. With four times fewer patients than initially expected, Discovery is losing its statistical power, which is nevertheless necessary.

80% of patients recover spontaneously

Among the molecules tested are remdesivir , hydroxychloroquine , and the combination of lopinavir and ritonavir. None of them has a blatant efficacy a priori for a disease in which more than 80% of patients recover spontaneously. A lot of data is therefore necessary to be able to hope to observe an effect.

The situation should not get better. The epidemic is losing intensity, which complicates the creation of a large cohort. A committee of experts outside the trial is scheduled to meet on May 11 to decide on its future.

► Coronavirus: what results for the ongoing clinical trials?

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