COVID-19 testing sites are seen on Tuesday along 42nd Street in New York City. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI |
License Photo
Feb. 11 (UPI) -- An over-the-counter drug that initially showed some promise in treating COVID-19, and prompted further study, has shown to be less effective than researchers hoped.
According to a study published on Thursday, the drug famotidine -- which is the active ingredient in the heartburn medication Pepcid -- showed some improvement for patients with mild or moderate COVID-19. However, the benefit was only marginally better than was seen in volunteers who were given a placebo.
The study, which enlisted 55 participants, showed that the people who'd received famotidine had an estimated 50% reduction in symptoms at 8.2 days, while those given a placebo saw reductions in 11.4 days.
"We found that famotidine is safe at the higher doses used and see molecular and clinical evidence that it improves the recovery of symptomatic patients of diverse ancestries diagnosed with COVID-19," Tobias Janowitz, principal investigator of the trial, said in a statement.
"We hope that the data we are sharing with this study guide future trials that are necessary to confirm famotidine as a treatment for patients with COVID-19."
Dr. Carlos del Rio, president-elect of the Infectious Disease Society of America, was less impressed with the study's results.
"I'm totally underwhelmed," he said, according to CNN, adding that money should not be spent on a larger trial.
Researchers at Northwell and Cold Spring Harbor are considering a larger clinical trial with famotidine as a COVID-19 treatment. But some, including del Rio, say it's not worth spending money on a larger trial -- mainly because there are already better options to treat the coronavirus disease, like antiviral tablets from Pfizer and Merck.
William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert and vaccine adviser to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also discouraged spending money on more study for the same reason.
The trial was supported by statisticians from Stony Brook University and was funded by the Pershing Square Foundation and by a grant from Emergent Ventures.
