Characterising COVID-19

contributing to clinical trials.

ISARIC 4C

The CVR is an active partner in the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC).

When this consortium was planning the Coronavirus Clinical Characterisation Consortium (ISARIC4C), the CVR was uniquely positioned to support these clinically focussed efforts in Scotland.  As a national centre of virology research, with world-leading expertise and state-of-the-art facilities the CVR has experience in large scale biobanking (HCV Research UK), can offer high containment facilities and has staff trained in handling infectious materials.

ISARIC4C, is funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) to generate data which will inform clinical decision-making and further our understanding of this disease.

Together with the CVR, the ISARIC4C partnership includes researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh and Liverpool, and Imperial College.

The CVR is contributing to the recruitment of Scottish patients for the project, acting as a repository for samples from patients recruited across Scotland and undertaking research to support high throughput serology.

Within ISARIC4C, the CVR will also lead a study designed to specifically investigate the antibody repertoire against all respiratory infections in individuals affected by COVID-19 stratified by various parameters including disease outcome.

In addition, the CVR is contributing to the Scottish arm of the ISARIC Clinical Characterisation Protocol (CCP) Tier 0 (CO-CIN) study. A national clinical database will be established to capture data from all hospitalised COVID-19 patients in Scotland. This will support a detailed characterisation of COVID-19 in the Scottish health care system, together with identification of risk factors associated with higher levels of death.

Research from the ISARIC4C consortium, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, highlights when coronaviruses are most prevalent in different healthcare settings and how these viruses interact with other kinds of respiratory viruses. The work – one of the most detailed studies of coronaviruses in a patient population – could be important for understanding and predicting the behaviour of COVID-19.

 

Remdesevir clinical trial

The CVR is contributing to a multicentre study on the use of Remdesivir to treat moderate and severe disease, funded by Gilead.

Favipiravir clinical trial

CVR clinical academics are leading the Chief Scientist’s Office (CSO) funded ‘Glasgow Early Treatment Arm Favipiravir’ study (GETAFIX). This is a randomised controlled study of favipiravir as an early treatment in COVID-19 hospitalised patients.

A group of CVR researchers are also collaborating on another CSO-funded study that takes an integrated virological/immunological approach to identify correlates of clinical severity and response to anti-viral therapies for COVID-19, including Favipiravir.