tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Adv Ther
. 2021 Dec 15;1-13.
doi: 10.1007/s12325-021-01998-y. Online ahead of print.
Clinical Experience with Ropeginterferon Alfa-2b in the Off-Label Use for the Treatment of COVID-19 Patients in Taiwan
Kuan-Yuan Chen[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Kang-Yun Lee[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 2 3 [/SUP], Albert Qin[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Ching-Shan Luo[SUP] 1 5 [/SUP], Yun-Kai Yeh[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jing-Quan Zheng[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Ching-Mei Chen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Chan-Yen Tsai[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Sheena Lin[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Jason Liao[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Yi-Wen Huang[SUP] 6 7 [/SUP], Po-Hao Feng[SUP] 8 9 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Introduction: This study, for the first time to our knowledge, evaluated the efficacy of ropeginterferon alfa-2b, a long-acting pegylated interferon (IFN)-alfa, in the treatment of COVID-19.
Methods: We retrospectively evaluated ropeginterferon alfa-2b administered subcutaneously at a single dose of 250 µg for the treatment of mild and moderate COVID-19. Primary outcome was to compare the overall negative conversion time from the confirmed, last positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR to the first RT-PCR negative conversion between patients receiving ropeginterferon alfa-2b plus standard of care (SOC) and those receiving SOC alone.
Results: Thirty-five patients with mild COVID-19 and 37 patients with moderate disease were included. Of them, 19 patients received SOC plus ropeginterferon alfa-2b and 53 patients received SOC alone. All patients with moderate disease in the ropeginterferon alfa-2b group showed RT-PCR negative conversion within 8 days, while a significant portion of patients in the SOC alone group failed to do so. For patients with moderate disease and age ≤ 65 years old, the ropeginterferon alfa-2b group had statistically significant shorter median RT-PCR conversion time than the SOC alone group (7 vs. 11.5 days, p < 0.05).
Conclusions: Ropeginterferon alfa-2b showed the potential for the treatment of moderate COVID-19 patients. A randomized, controlled Phase III study is planned to further assess the effectiveness of ropeginterferon alfa-2b in COVID-19 patients.
Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; Pegylated interferon; Retrospective study; Ropeginterferon alfa-2b.
. 2021 Dec 15;1-13.
doi: 10.1007/s12325-021-01998-y. Online ahead of print.
Clinical Experience with Ropeginterferon Alfa-2b in the Off-Label Use for the Treatment of COVID-19 Patients in Taiwan
Kuan-Yuan Chen[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Kang-Yun Lee[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 2 3 [/SUP], Albert Qin[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Ching-Shan Luo[SUP] 1 5 [/SUP], Yun-Kai Yeh[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jing-Quan Zheng[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Ching-Mei Chen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Chan-Yen Tsai[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Sheena Lin[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Jason Liao[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Yi-Wen Huang[SUP] 6 7 [/SUP], Po-Hao Feng[SUP] 8 9 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 34910280
- PMCID: PMC8672342
- DOI: 10.1007/s12325-021-01998-y
Abstract
Introduction: This study, for the first time to our knowledge, evaluated the efficacy of ropeginterferon alfa-2b, a long-acting pegylated interferon (IFN)-alfa, in the treatment of COVID-19.
Methods: We retrospectively evaluated ropeginterferon alfa-2b administered subcutaneously at a single dose of 250 µg for the treatment of mild and moderate COVID-19. Primary outcome was to compare the overall negative conversion time from the confirmed, last positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR to the first RT-PCR negative conversion between patients receiving ropeginterferon alfa-2b plus standard of care (SOC) and those receiving SOC alone.
Results: Thirty-five patients with mild COVID-19 and 37 patients with moderate disease were included. Of them, 19 patients received SOC plus ropeginterferon alfa-2b and 53 patients received SOC alone. All patients with moderate disease in the ropeginterferon alfa-2b group showed RT-PCR negative conversion within 8 days, while a significant portion of patients in the SOC alone group failed to do so. For patients with moderate disease and age ≤ 65 years old, the ropeginterferon alfa-2b group had statistically significant shorter median RT-PCR conversion time than the SOC alone group (7 vs. 11.5 days, p < 0.05).
Conclusions: Ropeginterferon alfa-2b showed the potential for the treatment of moderate COVID-19 patients. A randomized, controlled Phase III study is planned to further assess the effectiveness of ropeginterferon alfa-2b in COVID-19 patients.
Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; Pegylated interferon; Retrospective study; Ropeginterferon alfa-2b.