RECOVERY trial closes recruitment to colchicine treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. Statement from the RECOVERY trial chief investigators, 5 March 2021
The RECOVERY trial was established as a randomised clinical trial to test a range of potential treatments for COVID-19.
On the advice of the DMC, recruitment to the colchicine arm of the RECOVERY trial has now closed. The DMC saw no convincing evidence that further recruitment would provide conclusive proof of worthwhile mortality benefit either overall or in any pre-specified subgroup.
Recruitment to all other treatment arms – aspirin, baricitinib, Regeneron’s antibody cocktail, and (in selected hospitals) dimethyl fumarate – continues as planned.
Martin Landray, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, and Joint Chief Investigator, said ‘The RECOVERY trial has already identified two anti-inflammatory drugs – dexamethasone and tocilizumab – that improve the chances of survival for patients with severe COVID-19. So, it is disappointing that colchicine, which is widely used to treat gout and other inflammatory conditions, has no effect in these patients.