AstraZeneca pilots diabetes drug as potential COVID-19 treatment
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Britain’s AstraZeneca is testing a diabetes drug as a potential treatment for COVID-19 patients who also had existing heart and kidney problems, its second trial of an approved therapy to help treat the disease caused by the coronavirus.
Dubbed “DARE-19”, AstraZeneca said that the study will assess if Farxiga can reduce the risk of death from serious complications and organ failure in such patients.
Drugmakers are rushing to advance potential treatments for the fast-spreading virus outbreak.
While existing medications being trialled include cancer drugs and immunotherapies, some research shows that patients with existing heart conditions are at a high risk of developing COVID-19 complications, including heart failure.
Cambridge-based AstraZeneca has also said it will trial its cancer drug Calquence in COVID-19 patients and has partnered with rival GlaxoSmithKline and Cambridge University to set up a COVID-19 testing laboratory.
AstraZeneca’s DARE-19 trial, in partnership with the Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute, will enrol about 900 patients in the United States and European countries that are experiencing high rates of the coronavirus, the drugmaker said.
