The National Institutes of Health this week announced several new clinical trials studying different types of COVID-19 treatments.One new Phase 3 clinical trial will evaluate NeuroRx Inc.’s experimental formulation of aviptadil acetate and Gilead Sciences Inc.’ Veklury in hospitalized COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. The trial will give participants a combination of the two drugs; aviptadil and a placebo; Veklury and a placebo; or only a placebo, and will initially enroll 40 patients. The NIH also said it added SAB Biotherapeutics Inc.’s investigational polyclonal antibody drug to an ongoing Phase 2/3 study evaluating possible COVID-19 treatments in people with mild or moderate cases of COVID-19. That therapy will be tested against a placebo. NeuroRx and SAB are privately held companies. And, finally, the NIH said it plans to initiate a Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating over-the-counter medications that people with COVID-19 can take at home. Roughly 13,500 participants in this new study will receive a placebo or one of seven treatments in the mail. The list of medications is still being finalized.
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