Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

August 10, 2020

SARS-CoV-2 Clearance in COVID-19 Patients with Novaferon Treatment: A Randomized, Open-Label, Parallel Group Trial

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  • Novaferon, a medication modeled after human interferons, effectively inhibited replication of cells infected with SARS-CoV-2 in a laboratory setting. Healthy cells that were incubated with the drug also resisted the entry of SARS-CoV-2. 
  • In a clinical trial, patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 (n=89) randomized to receive Novaferon or Novaferon plus Lopinavir/Ritonavir had significantly higher viral clearance rates on day 6 after treatment than patients treated with Lopinavir/Ritonavir alone. There was no significant difference in viral clearance rates between the Novaferon group and the Novaferon plus Lopinavir/Ritonavir group. Median time to viral clearance were 6 days for the Novaferon group, 6 days for the Novaferon plus Lopinavir/Ritonavir group, and 9 days for the Lopinavir/Ritonavir alone group. No severe adverse events were reported. 

Zheng et al. (Aug 2020). SARS-CoV-2 Clearance in COVID-19 Patients with Novaferon Treatment: A Randomized, Open-Label, Parallel Group Trial. International Journal of Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2020.07.053