Ivermectin unable to significantly trim the time to recovery in COVID-19 patients: JAMA

A new trial conducted in the US found that Ivermectin could not reduce the time to recovery in mild-to-moderate COVID-19 patients when compared with a placebo. The trial results were published in the journal JAMA Network.  

COVID-19 has stirred a chaotic environment worldwide. Despite advanced therapeutic options, the requirement for additional options has become necessary for the outpatient setting. Ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug, has reemerged as a potential repurposed drug for COVID-19 in recent times but the effectiveness of ivermectin to shorten symptom duration or prevent hospitalization among outpatients in the US with mild to moderate symptomatic COVID-19 is unknown. Hence researchers in the US conducted a decentralized, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled platform trial called the ACTIV-6 to evaluate the efficacy of ivermectin, 400 μg/kg, daily for 3 days compared with placebo for the treatment of early mild to moderate COVID-19. 

From June 23, 2021, to February 4, 2022, at 93 sites in the United States, a total of 1591 participants aged 30 and older with confirmed COVID-19 and experiencing two or more symptoms of acute infection for less than seven days were enrolled. The follow-up data was available until May 31, 2022. Ivermectin at 400 mg/kg or placebo was randomly assigned to each participant over three days. There were 817 participants in the Ivermectin group and 774 participants in the placebo group. The main outcome of measurement was the time to sustained recovery, which is defined as having no symptoms for at least three consecutive days. Seven secondary outcomes were present, one of which was a composite of hospitalization or death on day 28.