Interferon beta-1a as a Candidate for COVID-19 Treatment; An Open-Label Single-Arm Clinical Trial
Pooya Payandemehr, Morteza Azhdarzadeh, Hooman Bahrami‐Motlagh, Azar Hadadi, Farhad Najmeddin, Shaghayegh Shahmirzaei, Marzieh Pazoki, Mehran Sotoodehnia, Reza Rahimian
Abstract
\nIntroduction: Since December 2019, an outbreak of Covid-19 has imposed growing worldwide concern. Researchers around the world is working to find a treatment or a vaccine for the Covid-19 and different treatment approaches have been tested in this regard. Objective: This study was designed and conducted to assess the possible efficacy of Interferon beta-1a as a a safe and efficient candidate for Covid-19 treatment. Methods: This is an investigator-initiated, open label, single arm clinical trial. Twenty suspected patients with Covid-19 who were admitted from 6 to 10 March, 2020 at Sina hospital in Tehran, Iran with moderate to severe symptoms were enrolled. Patients were treated with antiviral and hydroxychloroquine combination therapy with addition of subcutaneous Interferon beta-1a for 5 consecutive days. Baseline charactristiv and findings during the course of admission and 5 days after discharge were recorded for all the patients. Results: Totally, 20 patients with suspected Covid-19, were participated in this study, of whom 12 patients (60%) were male. The median (IQ) of patients’ age was 55.5 (43-63.5). The most common symptom of the patients at onset of disease was fever. The median (Interquartile, IQ range) days of hospital stay was 5.0 (3-6) days. Only 2 cases were admitted to ICU. At the time of follow-up, 15 (94%) patients reported that they generally feel good and had oral tolerance, 1 patient had suffered from dyspnea, 5 patients had suffered from cough, none of them had experienced fever and no case of re-admission or death was reported after discharge. Conclusions: Results of current study are in favor of using Interferon beta-1a in addition to recommended antiviral treatment in Covid-19 patients.\n