The History, Efficacy, and Safety of Potential Therapeutics: A Narrative Overview of the Complex Life of COVID-19

Farah Daou, Gretta Abou-Sleymane, Danielle A. Badro, Nagham Khanafer, Mansour Tobaiqy and Achraf Al Faraj
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Farah Daou: Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Science and Technology, Beirut 1100, Lebanon
Gretta Abou-Sleymane: Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Science and Technology, Beirut 1100, Lebanon
Danielle A. Badro: Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Science and Technology, Beirut 1100, Lebanon
Nagham Khanafer: Service d’Hygiène, Épidémiologie et Prévention, Hôpital Edouard Herriot, Hospices Civils de Lyon, 69003 Lyon, France
Mansour Tobaiqy: College of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, University of Jeddah, Jeddah 21959, Saudi Arabia
Achraf Al Faraj: Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Science and Technology, Beirut 1100, Lebanon

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic posed a serious public health concern and started a race against time for researchers to discover an effective and safe therapy for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. This review aims to describe the history, efficacy, and safety of five potential therapeutics for COVID-19, remdesivir, favipiravir, hydroxychloroquine, tocilizumab, and convalescent plasma. A literature review was conducted through October 2020 to identify published studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of these five potential therapeutics. Clinical improvement was used to assess the efficacy, while reported withdrawals from study participation and adverse events were used to evaluate the safety. In total, 95 clinical studies (6 interventional and 89 observational studies) were obtained, of which 42 were included in this review. The evaluation of the efficacy and safety profiles is challenging due to the limitations of the clinical studies on one hand, and the limited number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the other. Moreover, there was insufficient evidence to support repurposing remdesivir, favipiravir, and tocilizumab for COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; safety; efficacy; therapeutics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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