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COVID-19 research briefs: small trial of lopinavir-ritonavir for patients hospitalized with COVID-19 shows no benefit
Clinical Question
Can lopinavir-ritonavir improve outcomes for patients hospitalized with COVID-19?
Bottom line
A randomized trial of 199 patients found no evidence of benefit for lopinavir-ritonavir in patients with COVID-19. A larger trial is needed. 2b
Reference
Study design: Randomized controlled trial (nonblinded)
Funding: Self-funded or unfunded
Setting: Outpatient (primary care)
Synopsis
Research Brief #6 (Cao, 2020) In this open-label trial, researchers in Wuhan enrolled patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and oxygen saturation of 94% or less on room air. They randomized the patients to receive standard care (n = 100) or standard care plus an HIV-medication called lopinavir-ritonavir (Kaletra; 400 mg/ 100 mg; n = 99) twice a day for 14 days. They found no statistically significant difference in the duration of illness. Although the patients treated with lopinavir-ritonavir had 5.8% fewer deaths, this was not statistically significant. But in order to detect this difference a study would need more than 800 patients in each group. Stay tuned - hopefully, this will be studied further.
Reviewer
Henry C. Barry, MD, MS
Professor
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI