Aspirin Added to UK’s RECOVERY Trial of COVID-19 Treatments

One arm of the UK’s RECOVERY trial evaluating potential COVID-19 treatments is including aspirin in combination with the drugs being evaluated.

Researchers said they will add aspirin to the treatment regimen for its blood-thinning properties since COVID-19 patients are at high risk of forming blood clots.

An estimated 2,000 patients will receive a daily dose of 150 mg of aspirin combined with a coronavirus treatment. Results will then be compared with the control group, consisting of 2,000 patients receiving a COVID-19 treatment alone.

“It is likely to be several months before there is enough evidence to conclude whether aspirin has a significant benefit in COVID-19 patients,” said the trial’s co-chief investigator Peter Horby of the University of Oxford.

Antivirals being evaluated in the multi-arm RECOVERY trial include the corticosteroid dexamethasone, Regeneron’s antibody cocktail REGN-COV2, convalescent plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients, the antibiotic azithromycin and the rheumatoid arthritis treatment tocilizumab. — Jason Scott