A study co-led by McMaster University said an inexpensive reusable drug called fluvoxamine could save the lives of COVID-19 patients and reduce admissions by 30 percent. Fluvoxamine is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)-type antidepressant approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder and for other conditions, including depression.
McMaster University researcher Edward Mills and his team treated 739 randomly selected Brazilian COVID-19 patients with fluvoxamine between Jan. 15 and Aug. 6 this year, with another 733 patients receiving a placebo.
During the trial, the researchers followed each patient who received fluvoxamine for 28 days to determine their health status and whether they still need hospital treatment. The researchers found that patients receiving fluvoxamine had about 30 percent fewer hospitalization rates compared to those who received a placebo.
In patients taking all the drugs, this effect rose to 65%. The fluvoxamine trial forms part of a larger TOGETHER trial that began in May 2020 with the aim of testing potential COVID-19 treatments in a community setting.
"So far, fluvoxamine is the only treatment that can prevent COVID-19 from becoming a life-threatening disease if administered as early as possible." Mills, co-lead investigator of the TOGETHER trial and professor in McMaster University's Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, said: "It may be one of our most powerful weapons against the virus, and its effectiveness is one of our most important discoveries since the pandemic began. ”
The researchers of the TOGETHER trial published their findings in The Lancet on October 27, 2021.
"In addition, this inexpensive, readily available pill is a huge boon for public health in Canada and internationally, enabling hospitals to avoid expensive and sometimes risky treatments."
He added that every 10-day course of treatment costs about $4, and fluvoxamine could be a "game-changer" tool for poorer countries with low vaccination rates and no access to more advanced COVID-19 treatments.
Fluvoxamine has been used to treat a variety of diseases since the 1990s, and its safety is well known. It was identified early in the pandemic as having the potential to reduce cytokine storms in patients with COVID-19. Cytokine storms are a severe immune response to COVID-19 that can lead to potentially fatal organ damage.