In the treatment of early stage patients with moderate or severe covid in the hospital, there are no differences between the use of placebo and amantadine – Prof. Adam Barczyk from the Medical University of Silesia.
- Prof. Barczyk also said that he asked the president of the Medical Research Agency to stop recruiting patients and end the study on amantadine
- The professor participated in a press conference at the Ministry of Health, devoted to the first results of clinical trials on the use of amantadine in the treatment of patients with COVID-19
- As noted at the conference, studies are still ongoing to verify the effectiveness of amantadine in outpatient treatment. – This is a group of less sick patients – announced the president of the Medical Research Agency Radosław Sierpiński
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Deputy Minister of Health Maciej Miłkowski indicated that clinical trials of amantadine were carried out under contracts with ABM by two entities – Independent Public Clinical Hospital No. 4 in Lublin i Upper Silesian Medical Center prof. Leszek Giec in Katowice. Prof. Adam Barczyk – as he explained – coordinated the study at the Upper Silesian Medical Center. The study in Lublin is still in progress.
Professor Barczyk indicated that 163 patients were randomized (randomized studies are those in which patients are randomly assigned to a team receiving a drug or to a team receiving a placebo – PAP).
«As some of the patients did not agree to continue the study or withdrew their consent, the analysis from the randomized group concerns 149 patients, 78 received amantadine and 71 placebo. The study was double + blinded +, until then we did not know what the results were »- said prof. Barczyk.
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The study, he noted, was conducted in the population of patients with inpatient covid – “in the early stage of patients with moderate or severe covid, that is, in those who are at the beginning of the disease, but are hospitalized because pneumonia begins, desaturation and hypoxia in the blood appear”.
He added that the research conducted by prof. Konrad Rejdak from the Independent Public Clinical Hospital No. 4 in Lublin concerns a different population.
“Overall, the results show unequivocally that in the population of COVID-19 patients treated in the hospital, there are no differences between those who used placebo or those who used amantadine” – said Prof. Barczyk. Therefore, he said, he asked the president of the Medical Research Agency to stop recruiting patients and end the study.
Deputy Minister Miłkowski noted that amantadine is not and has never been recommended in the course of COVID-19 by any scientific societies.
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«There is still clinical research possible, there is research going on, but this is completely different. This is a randomized trial. Scientists, with the consent of the ethics committee, can always proceed further »- he said.
He announced that the Ministry of Health will soon inform about the next test results. “As of today (…) there are no recommendations that this drug is in any way more effective than placebo” – he said.
Sierpiński: we are still waiting for the results of the study of the use of amantadine among outpatients
The results of another study on the use of amantadine among outpatients, i.e. in clinics, will appear in the next few days, informed Radosław Sierpiński, the president of the Medical Research Agency.
On Friday in Warsaw, the first results of clinical trials of the use of amantadine in the treatment of patients suffering from COVID-19 were announced. There was no difference between the use of placebo and amantadine in the treatment of COVID-19 patients in the hospital, it reported.
President of the Medical Research Agency Radosław Sierpiński thanked prof. Adam Barczyk from the Medical University of Silesia and his team for carrying out this study quickly.
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“This is an important social topic and, following the order of the Minister of Health, also as the Medical Research Agency, we set up an appropriate clinical trial as soon as possible. We fulfilled the social role of addressing these doubts, showing what it really is, ”Sierpiński said.
He added that the second part of the study of the use of amantadine is a study on “a slightly different group of patients treated outpatiently, ie at the clinic”.
«This is a group of less sick patients. We are waiting for the results of this study – they will appear within days and we will inform about their results without undue delay »- announced the president of ABM.
Authors: Katarzyna Lechowicz-Dyl, Iwona Żurek, Katarzyna Herbut, Agata Zbieg
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