First MFT patient recruited to research trial for potential COVID-19 treatments

The first MFT patient has taken part in a research trial which is testing potential treatments for COVID-19 (coronavirus).

The patient was recruited to the RECOVERY trial at Wythenshawe Hospital on Tuesday (31 March), as part of a multidisciplinary team effort to tackle the disease.

This trial is available to adult COVID-19 patients being cared for at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), which Wythenshawe Hospital is part of. The first Manchester Royal Infirmary patient was recruited yesterday, bringing the current number of MFT patients participating in the RECOVERY trial to six.

There are currently no approved treatments for COVID-19, but the Randomised Evaluation of COVid-19 theERapY ‘RECOVERY’ trial aims to assess the effects of different treatments in people with coronavirus.

It is testing three existing therapies as potential treatments for COVID-19:

• Lopinavir-Ritonavir (commonly used to treat HIV)
• Low-dose Dexamethasone (a type of steroid, which is used in a range of conditions typically to reduce inflammation).
• Hydroxychloroquine (related to an anti-malarial drug).

RECOVERY is taking place at hospitals across the UK, sponsored by the University of Oxford, with MFT a participating site.

Other COVID-19 research trials have begun at MFT, with more due to open in the coming days and almost 100 patients recruited to COVID-19 trials at MFT so far.

Dr Tim Felton, Honorary Consultant in Intensive Care and Respiratory Medicine at Wythenshawe Hospital and Clinical Lead for all MFT COIVID-19-related studies, said: “It’s fantastic that we’ve recruited our first patient to the RECOVERY trial at MFT.

“Our research spans four workstreams – data, diagnostics, observational and treatments – RECOVERY is one of our ‘treatment’ studies and is looking at different medications we can use to treat patients with COVID-19.

“Congratulations to the team for recruiting our first patient the day the study opened, which is a fantastic effort. But more importantly still, I’d like to say thank you to the patients taking part in our COVID-19 studies who are playing a vital role in helping us understand more about this disease.”

Dr Felton explains more about the COVID-19 research taking place at MFT in the short video below:

Initially, the treatments included in the RECOVERY trial have been recommended by an expert panel that advises the Chief Medical Officer in England, other treatments will be added to the trial as they become available.

More information can be found in the RECOVERY website: recoverytrial.net.