April 15, 2021

Role of Interferon Therapy in Severe COVID-19: The COVIFERON Randomized Controlled Trial

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Testing and Treatment

Keywords (Tags): treatment

• The interferon therapy IFNβ1a was associated with a shorter time to clinical improvement (TTCI) compared to control (HR: 2.4, 95% CI 1.1-5.2) among people with severe COVID-19 in a 1:1:1 randomized, placebo-controlled, open-label trial (n=60), but patients treated with IFNβ1b did not have a statistically significant different TTCI (HR: 1.4, 95% CI 0.6-3.2). The median TTCI for both interferon groups compared to the control group was 5 vs 7 days. TTCI was defined as the time from enrollment to discharge or a two-step decline on the clinical seven-step ordinal scale, whichever came first. Mortality was 20%, 30% and 45% in the IFNβ1a, IFNβ1b, and control group, respectively. All participants also received hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir.

Alavi Darazam et al. (Apr 13, 2021). Role of Interferon Therapy in Severe COVID-19: The COVIFERON Randomized Controlled Trial. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86859-y