Hyperimmune anti-COVID-19 IVIG (C-IVIG) treatment in severe and critical COVID-19 patients: A phase I/II randomized control trial

Abstract

Background: Hyperimmune anti-COVID-19 Intravenous Immunoglobulin (C-IVIG) is an unexplored therapy amidst the rapidly evolving spectrum of medical therapies for COVID-19 and is expected to counter the three most lifethreatening consequences of COVID-19 including lung injury by the virus, cytokine storm and sepsis. Methods: A single center, phase I/II, randomized controlled, single-blinded trial was conducted at Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan. Participants were COVID-19 infected individuals, classified as either severely or critically ill with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). Participants were randomized through parallel-group design with sequential assignment in a 4:1 allocation to either intervention group with four C-IVIG dosage arms (0.15, 0.20, 0.25, 0.30 g/kg), or control group receiving standard of care only (n = 10). Primary outcomes were 28-day mortality, patient's clinical status on ordinal scale and Horowitz index (HI), and were analysed in all randomized participants that completed the follow-up period (intentionto-treat population). The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04521309). Findings: Fifty participants were enrolled in the study from June 19, 2020 to February 3, 2021 with a mean age of 56.54 §13.2 years of which 22 patients (44%) had severe and 28 patients (56%) had critical COVID-19. Mortality occurred in ten of 40 participants (25%) in intervention group compared to six of ten (60%) in control group, with relative risk reduction in intervention arm I (RR, 0.333; 95% CI, 0.087À1.272), arm II (RR, 0.5; 95% CI, 0.171À1.463), arm III (RR, 0.167; 95% CI, 0.024À1.145), and arm IV (RR, 0.667; 95% CI, 0.268À1.660). In intervention group, median HI significantly improved to 359 mmHg [interquartile range (IQR) 127À400, P = 0.009)] by outcome day, while the clinical status of intervention group also improved as compared to control group, with around 15 patients (37.5%) being discharged by 7th day with complete recovery. Additionally, resolution of chest X-rays and restoration of biomarkers to normal levels were also seen in intervention groups. No drug-related adverse events were reported during the study. Interpretation: Administration of C-IVIG in severe and critical COVID-19 patients was safe, increased the chance of survival and reduced the risk of disease progression. Funding: Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan (Ref no. 20-RRG-134/RGM/R&D/HEC/2020).

Antibody and cellular therapies for treatment of covid-19: a living systematic review and network meta-analysis

“…After screening 52350 titles and abstracts and 1029 full texts, 47 unique randomised controlled trials that evaluated antiviral antibody or cellular treatments were identified as of 21 July 2021 (fig 1). 43444546474849505152535455565758596061626364656667686970717273747576777879808182838485868788 A table of excluded full texts is provided in the supplementary data on bmj.com. Searches of living evidence retrieval services identified 11 publications of eligible randomised trials, which were reconciled with our formal search strategy when necessary 222324254549566466676875838688.…”

Efficacy of COVID-19 Treatments: A Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

“…Overall, 115 studies with 77,128 patients reported the number of patients requiring mechanical ventilation during the study period. We included ACEIs/ARBs, ammonium chloride, azithromycin, bamlanivimab, baricitinib plus remdesivir, bromhexine, budesonide, camostat mesilate, canakinumab, chloroquine, colchicine, convalescent plasma, dexamethasone, doxycycline, favipiravir, hydroxychloroquine, hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin, hydroxychloroquine plus favipiravir, imatinib, INM005, interferon beta, intravenous immunoglobulin, ivermectin, lopinavir/ritonavir, methylprednisolone, recombinant human GCSF, remdesivir, sarilumab, sofosbuvir plus daclatasvir, sulodexide, tocilizumab, tofacitinib, vitamin D3 and SOC as treatment nodes in the NMA, for which observations came from 84 studies ( 3 , 6 , 22 – 26 , 28 – 31 , 35 , 42 , 43 , 46 , 47 , 50 , 53 , 55 , 57 – 61 , 63 , 64 , 66 , 67 , 71 , 73 – 77 , 79 , 80 , 82 , 83 , 85 – 87 , 89 , 92 – 94 , 96 – 100 , 102 , 105 – 107 , 109 , 111 – 118 , 120 – 124 , 126 , 128 – 132 , 134 , 135 , 139 , 140 , 145 , 151 , 152 , 154 – 156 ). About one-third (26/84) of the included studies were evaluated as low risk ( Supplementary Table 6 ).…”

Compassionate Use of GC5131 (Hyperimmunoglobulin) Therapy in Critically Ill Patients Diagnosed with COVID-19: A Case Series and Review of Literature

“…Recently, in June 2021, the first report evaluating the efficacy of using hyperimmunoglobulin in severe and critical COVID-19 patients was published [24]. In this study, although doses of hyperimmunoglobulin administered to each patient were lower than those used in our cases, which ranged from 0.15 to 0.3 g/kg, it was found that hyperimmunoglobulin therapy improved the chances of survival and reduced the risk of disease progression in 40 severely or critically ill patients with COVID-19 [24]. In that study, the mean days from the onset of symptoms to the administration of hyperimmunoglobulin was 8.37 days, which is earlier than in our cases.…”