NIH ACTIV initiative launches adaptive clinical trials of blood-clotting treatments for COVID-19 | WPN World People News

The National Institutes of Health has launched two of three adaptive Phase 3 clinical trials evaluating the safety and effectiveness of varying types of blood thinners to treat adults diagnosed with COVID-19. Part of the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) initiative, these trials will be conducted at more than 100 sites around the world and will involve patients in various clinical settings — those who have not been hospitalized, those currently hospitalized and those discharged after hospitalization for moderate to severe disease.

Collectively known as ACTIV-4 Antithrombotics, the trials will provide critical insights that could help guide the care of patients with COVID-19, particularly those who suffer from life-threatening blood clots. The trial for hospitalized COVID-19 patients and the trial for patients with COVID-19 who have not been hospitalized are now underway. A third trial to start later will focus on patients discharged after hospitalization for moderate to severe COVID-19 disease. All three clinical trials will be coordinated and overseen by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of NIH, and funded through Operation Warp Speed(link is external).

Researchers have noted that many patients who have died from COVID-19 — the deadly disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 — had formed blood clots throughout their bodies, including in their smallest blood vessels. This unusual clotting, one of many life-threatening effects of the disease, has caused multiple health complications, from organ damage to heart attack, stroke and pulmonary embolism.

ACTIV-4 Antithrombotics will be recruiting at sites with significant COVID-19 burden and are interested in enrolling patients in studies testing potential treatments to prevent or reduce the formation of blood clots. The adaptive design of the protocol allows different blood thinners to be started, stopped or combined during the study in response to emerging trial data. This approach accelerates the timeline for testing different agents without compromising safety.

Antithrombotics, also known as blood thinners or anticoagulants, keep blood protein and platelets from turning into clumps or sticking to each other, but doctors have not yet figured out if, and at what point during the course of the disease, blood thinners might be effective at treating patients with COVID-19.

“There is currently no standard of care for anticoagulation in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and there is a desperate need for clinical evidence to guide practice,” said expert. “Conducting trials using multiple existing networks of research sites provides the scale and speed that will get us answers faster.”

ACTIV-4 Antithrombotics Inpatient will investigate the safety and effectiveness of using varying doses of the blood thinner heparin to prevent clotting events and improve outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Patients will be assigned to either a low or high dose of heparin, and as the trial progresses, additional antithrombotics may be tested, depending on the trial results. All participants in the study will continue to receive clinical care as indicated for their condition.

ACTIV-4-Antithrombotics Outpatient will investigate whether anticoagulants or antithrombotic therapy can reduce life-threatening cardiovascular or pulmonary complications in newly diagnosed COVID-19 patients who do not require hospital admission. Researchers will also collect patient data and blood samples to help identify new drug targets and biomarkers that may help identify a patient’s risk of developing complications related to COVID-19. Participants will be assigned to take either a placebo, aspirin or a low or therapeutic dose of the blood thinner apixaban.

“We must use therapies that support the natural inhibitors of clotting in the blood,” said expert. “Heparin has shown promise, but we really need clinical trial data to determine how much blood thinner, or even anti-platelet medication, to give.”

“By leveraging the infrastructure and expertise of our existing research networks, we can more rapidly gather the scientific evidence needed to help prevent or treat these very serious complications caused by COVID-19,” said NHLBI Director Gary H. Gibbons, M.D. “Harnessing and integrating the assets within existing networks gives us an enormous head start and will allow us to get answers much sooner.”

Trial planning and development work is being done through a collaborative effort with a number of universities, including the University of Pittsburgh; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; New York University, New York City; Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston; University of Illinois at Chicago; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and The University of Vermont, Burlington.

Source: U.S. National Institutes of Health