JoinAStudy.ca Investigator Published in the New England Journal of Medicine

Earlier this year, we reported on the positive findings of a Covid-19 treatment study, conducted by lead study author and JoinAStudy Investigator Dr. Anil Gupta. We are now proud to highlight that as of November 18, 2021 this research has been published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. It is among the most reputable peer-reviewed medical journals in the world, as well as being the oldest continuously published one. 

Older patients with Covid-19 and those with certain comorbidities (such as diabetes, obesity, COPD) are at the highest risk of hospitalization, and potentially death. Overcrowding of Intensive Care Units within hospitals has been exacerbated by the intake of Covid-19 patients from these groups, and this strain on capacity has certainly led to unnecessary death and suffering. 

Dr. Gupta’s research, sponsored by Vir Biotechnology in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline, focused on evaluating the efficacy and safety of an engineered human monoclonal antibody called sotrovimab. Across all research sites, 868 patients meeting the study criteria (older patients with comorbidities) were randomized and subsequently received either sotrovimab or a placebo, to allow researchers to determine the relative risks and benefits of the experimental treatment.  

 Findings from the study have shown a relative risk reduction of 85% in hospitalization or death in patients who received sotrovimab compared to those who received the placebo. Among patients who were hospitalized, none of the patients who received sotrovimab were admitted to the ICU, as compared with 5 patients who received the placebo. This suggests that sotrovimab prevented more severe complications of Covid-19 in addition to preventing hospitalization, a finding that was true across all variants of the virus.  

To read the full article in the New England Journal of Medicine, please click here.