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Updates from the ACCORD platform
New COVID-19 drug from ACCORD trial boosts hospital patients’ recovery
The drug bemcentinib could help to further improve the care COVID-19 patients receive in hospital, a sub-study of the Southampton-led ACCORD trial has shown.
The ACCORD trial, led by Southampton’s Professor Tom Wilkinson, is a UK-wide clinical trial platform which aims to accelerate the development of new drugs for patients hospitalised with COVID-19.
It assesses several potential COVID-19 treatments for those with severe COVID-19. These treatments are given on top of standard care, and compared with standard care alone.
Patients join the trial within a day after they are admitted to hospital. Eligible patients are categorized by a 9-point clinical scale system developed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The biopharmaceutical company BerGenBio, who ran the sub-study, found bemcentinib helped to boost the recovery of hospitalised COVID-19 patients when given on top of the treatments they were already receiving as part of standard care.
Overall, 26 of the 29 patients (90 percent) treated with bemcentinib recovered to the extent that they improved by two points on the WHO scoring system or were discharged from hospital. They took an average of seven days to reach this point.
By comparison, 22 of 32 patients (69 percent) on standard care alone reached this point in their recovery, taking an average of nine and a half days.
Following this success, bemcentinib will now progress onto the next stage of development. It will be studied in up to 500 hospitalised COVID-19 patients as part of the EU-SolidAct trial.
Professor Tom Wilkinson, Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Southampton and Chief Investigator on the ACCORD program, said: "With COVID-19 still driving hospital admissions globally it is key that new, more effective treatments are being developed.
“These results from the ACCORD2 program indicate that bemcentinib has demonstrated real promise as a new therapeutic option for hospitalised patients, and it now warrants testing in larger studies. These results are a testament to the great collaboration between the NHS, NIHR, the MEU and our Southampton research teams, with more exciting results to follow from the platform."
First arm of ACCORD clinical trial platform completes patient recruitment
ACCORD – a Phase 2, clinical trial platform designed to rapidly test candidate drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 – has completed patient recruitment for the first of its arms.
The ongoing study is delivered in collaboration with the Medicines Evaluation Unit in Manchester and NHS hospital sites across the UK, supported by the NIHR. ACCORD is led by Professor Tom Wilkinson at the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre.
ACCORD’s work evaluating new candidate drugs for large scale trials is vital, with only limited treatment options for those who are hospitalised with COVID-19. Despite vaccine programmes helping to reduce COVID-19 cases and incidence of severe COVID-19, new treatments will remain critical to improving outcomes for hospitalised patients and reducing pressure on intensive care units.
Analysis of the full dataset from ACCORD is expected to be completed in the next few months following completion of patient recruitment in the additional two arms.
Statement from the UK Early Phase platforms (TACTIC, ACCORD, CATALYST, DEFINE)
Profs David Jayne (TACTIC), Pam Kearns (CATALYST), Kev Dhaliwal (DEFINE), Tom Wilkinson (ACCORD), Maya Buch (MSK-TRC) and Ling-Pei Ho (Respiratory-TRC). 8 June 2020
The four national early phase platform trials (TACTIC, CATALYST, DEFINE and ACCORD) have today formally agreed to work as an alliance to accelerate patient recruitment, data analysis and delivery of therapeutic drugs for COVID-19 patients. They will be supported by the MSK and Respiratory TRC, the NIHR Clinical Research Network and the UK network of CRFs.
We will jointly review drugs and sites in a transparent manner, communicate our collaborative and common purpose to all sites that we approach, share our data at appropriate milestones, and support each other's efforts. The alliance will work closely with the NIHR BRCs and offer UK-wide early phase trials capability for the current COVID-19 and preparedness for future waves.
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