The RECOVERY trial, one of the world's largest clinical trial of treatments for patients hospitalised with COVID-19, posted on its website on 27 November 2020 that anti-inflammatory drug colchicine will be tested as a possible COVID-19 treatment, the latest effort to repurpose existing medicines to fight the pandemic, Reuters news agency reported on Friday.
The RECOVERY trial will randomly allocate at least 2,500 patients recruited to receive colchicine, which is used as a treatment for gout.
Oxford University Professor, Peter Horby, who is co-chief investigator for the trial said: "Colchicine is an attractive drug to evaluate in the RECOVERY trial as it is very well understood, inexpensive and widely available."
Colchicine costs about USD124 for 30 capsules on the drugs.com website.
According to the scientists behind the trial, inflammation plays a major role in COVID-19 and treatment with dexamethasone, another anti-inflammatory drug, has already shown that it can reduce deaths in the most severely ill patients.
Other treatments being tested in the RECOVERY trial include common antibiotic azithromycin and the Regeneron antibody cocktail that was used to treat US President Donald Trump's COVID-19 symptoms.
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