Clinical trial research agenda on COVID-19 – two years after the beginning of the pandemic
By using the COVID-evidence.org platform, we followed the COVID-19 clinical trial research agenda from the beginning. Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic started, our aim was to re-examine this research agenda with the latest data to provide a global perspective on the research landscape.
Hirt J, Janiaud P, Hemkens LG. Clinical trial research agenda on COVID-19 – the first two years in Germany and beyond. Z Evid Fortbild Qual Gesundhwes 2022. doi: 10.1016/j.zefq.2022.08.003
Trials assessing non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to prevent COVID-19
A systematic scoping review of registered randomized trials assessing non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to prevent COVID-19 as of August 2021 summarizing key trial characteristics and presenting results:
Hirt J, Janiaud P, Hemkens LG. Randomised trials on non-pharmaceutical interventions for COVID-19 as of August 2021: a scoping review. BMJ Evid Based Med 2022. doi: 10.1136/bmjebm-2021-111825
Additionally, a blog spotlight has been published:
Hirt, J., Janiaud, P. & Hemkens, L. G. (2022). Why we urgently need a long-term research agenda on non-pharmaceutical interventions to guide policies and practices in the current and future public health emergencies. Blog entry written on: Randomized trials on non-pharmaceutical interventions for COVID-19: a scoping review, (bmjebm-2021-111825). Link
A living overview on registered trials assessing NPIs to prevent COVID-19 was launched as part of COVID-evidence. The protocol is published on Open Science Framework.
Analysis of the COVID-19 research agenda in Germany
A systematic analysis of randomized clinical trials assessing interventions to treat or prevent COVID-19 that were registered in 2020 and recruited or planned to recruit participants in Germany. Additionally, we requested recruitment accrual information from trial investigators as of April 2021.
Hirt J, Rasadurai A, Briel M, Düblin P, Janiaud P, Hemkens LG. Clinical trial research on COVID-19 in Germany – a systematic analysis. F1000Res 2021;10:913. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.55541.1
Data is available on Open Science Framework.
Hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine collaborative review
An international collaborative meta-analysis on the effects of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine on mortality outcomes in patients with COVID-19 from all available RCTs by October 16, 2020. In addition to published data, investigators from all ongoing, completed, or discontinued RCTs were invited to share their unpublished mortality data.
Axfors C, Schmitt AM, Janiaud P, van’t Hooft J, et al. Mortality outcomes with hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in COVID-19 from an international collaborative meta-analysis of randomized trials. Nature Communications. 2021 Apr 15;12(1):2349. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22446-z
Axfors C, Schmitt AM, Janiaud P, et al. Mortality outcomes with hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in COVID-19: an international collaborative meta-analysis of randomized trials.
medRxiv. Published online October 22, 2020. doi: 10.1101/2020.09.16.20194571
Data and protocol available on the Open Science Framework.
Convalescent plasma collaborative review
An international collaborative meta-analysis on the effects of convalescent plasma on mortality outcomes in patients with COVID-19 from all available RCTs. In addition to published data, investigators from all ongoing, completed, or discontinued RCTs are invited to share their unpublished mortality data.
Axfors C, Schmitt AM, Janiaud P, et al. Mortality outcomes with hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in COVID-19 from an international collaborative meta-analysis of randomized trials. Nat Commun 2021;12:2349. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22446-z
Protocol available on the Open Science Framework.
The first 100 days of the clinical research response to COVID-19
Descriptive analysis of planned, ongoing or completed trials by April 9, 2020 testing any intervention to treat or prevent COVID-19, systematically identified in trial registries, preprint servers, and literature databases. A survey was conducted of all trials to assess their recruitment status up to July 6, 2020.
Janiaud P, Axfors C, van’t Hooft J, et al. The worldwide clinical trial research response to the COVID-19 pandemic - the first 100 days. F1000Research. 2020;9:1193. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.26707.2
Data and protocol available on the Open Science Framework.
The fate of randomized clinical trials registered in the first 100 days
Between October 5 and 15, 2020, all trial groups of randomized clinical trials registered in the first 100 days were invited to share information on recruitment status, enrollment accrual, reasons for trial termination or discontinuation (if applicable), and any results reporting. Additional publications of RCTS reporting results were systematically searched using the Living Overview of Evidence (LOVE) platform.
Janiaud P, Axfors C, Ioannidis JPA, Hemkens LG. Recruitment and Results Reporting of COVID-19 Randomized Clinical Trials Registered in the First 100 Days of the Pandemic. JAMA Netw Open. 2021 Mar 1;4(3):e210330. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.0330