Oxford scientists say HIV drugs combo — lopinavir and ritonavir — ‘not effective’ for Covid-19 patients
Scientists in the UK revealed that a combination of antiviral drugs — lopinavir and ritonavir – which was used to treat HIV did not show promising results for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
As per the report, Oxford scientists stated that the antiviral drug combination which was said to be a potential treatment for COVID-19 did not show significant benefit in reducing the mortality of patients.
The results from the UK Recovery trial showed that there was no beneficial effect of lopinavir-ritonavir treatment for COVID-19 patients.
Reportedly, Kaletra, a combination of antiviral drugs lopinavir and ritonavir, is used against HIV. The chief investigators of the RECOVERY trial said in a statement that a review of data showed no clinical benefit in hospitalised COVID-19 patients as compared to the usual care alone.
The report suggested that the scientists compared 1,596 patients given lopinavir-ritonavir with 3,376 patients in a control group. There was no difference in terms of mortality, length of hospital stay, or the risk of being put on a ventilator.
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Recently, the doctors at Jaipur hospital used Lopinavir/ritonavir in some patients of coronavirus. Reportedly, they tested negative for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) dropped it after a Chinese study depicted an increase in mortality rate in COVID-19 patients.
-PTC News
