Clinical trial found that interferon does not help hospitalized adults with new coronary pneumonia

Color scanning electron microscope image (red) of human cells severely infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus particles
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A clinical trial found that among hospitalized adults suffering from COVID-19 pneumonia, treatment with the immunomodulator interferon β1a plus the antiviral drug remdesivir is not superior to the treatment of remdesivir alone
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In addition, in a group of patients requiring high-flow oxygen, the researchers found that interferon β1a was associated with more adverse events and worse outcomes

This study is called Adaptive COVID-19 Therapy Trial 3 (ACTT-3) and will be conducted from August 5, 2020 to December 21, 2020
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It is sponsored and funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is part of the National Institutes of Health

The amino acid sequence of interferon β1a is the same as that of a natural protein called interferon-β, which belongs to a class of proteins called type 1 interferons
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Infected cells usually produce type 1 interferon, which helps the immune system fight pathogens, especially viruses

Laboratory studies have shown that after infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19, the normal type 1 interferon response is suppressed
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In addition, previous studies of COVID-19 hospitalized patients have shown that many patients produce less interferon when responding to SARS-CoV-2 infection, which is related to more serious diseases

However, the ACTT-3 researchers finally found that in COVID-19 hospitalized adult patients, the clinical benefits of interferon β1a plus redecivir were not relevant compared with redecivir alone
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For participants who received interferon β1a + remdesivir, the main outcome (recovery time) was the same as that of participants who received remdesivir alone, with a median of 5 days

In this study, Remdesivir is still used as an active control because the first iteration of the ACTT trial found that antiviral drugs are better than placebo in reducing the recovery time of COVID-19 hospitalized patients
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The ACTT-3 research team recruited 969 adults in 63 locations in the United States, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, and South Korea
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60% of the patients were white, 17% were black, 9% were Asian, 1% were American Indian or Alaska Native, and 32% were Hispanic or Latino

On September 4, 2020, the study was modified to stop including patients with severe COVID-19 who require high-flow oxygen, and exclude those who require non-invasive or invasive mechanical ventilation
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These changes are noted by the Research Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) that among participants who require high-flow oxygen at the time of registration, those who received interferon β1a had a higher incidence of serious adverse events than those who did not receive interferon β1a.

"Efficacy of interferon beta-1a plus remdesivir compared with remdesivir alone in hospitalized adults with COVID-19: a double-bind, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial" 18 October 2021, The Lancet Respiratory Medicine .