Early treatment of COVID-19 with anakinra guided by soluble urokinase plasminogen receptor plasma levels: [RCT], 2021, Kyriazopoulou et al

Early treatment of COVID-19 with anakinra guided by soluble urokinase plasminogen receptor plasma levels: a double-blind, randomized controlled phase 3 trial

(SAVE-MORE trial)

Abstract
Early increase of soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) serum levels is indicative of increased risk of progression of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to respiratory failure.

The SAVE-MORE double-blind, randomized controlled trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of anakinra, an IL-1α/β inhibitor, in 594 patients with COVID-19 at risk of progressing to respiratory failure as identified by plasma suPAR ≥6 ng ml−1, 85.9% (n = 510) of whom were receiving dexamethasone.

At day 28, the adjusted proportional odds of having a worse clinical status (assessed by the 11-point World Health Organization Clinical Progression Scale (WHO-CPS)) with anakinra, as compared to placebo, was 0.36 (95% confidence interval 0.26–0.50). The median WHO-CPS decrease on day 28 from baseline in the placebo and anakinra groups was 3 and 4 points, respectively (odds ratio (OR) = 0.40, P < 0.0001); the respective median decrease of Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score on day 7 from baseline was 0 and 1 points (OR = 0.63, P = 0.004). Twenty-eight-day mortality decreased (hazard ratio = 0.45, P = 0.045), and hospital stay was shorter.

Link | PDF (Nature Medicine) [Open Access]

 

They studied respiratory failure, not really long COVID here, but there will be a study of the same medication, anakinra, for long COVID, based on what they learned from this study.

Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain: Safety and Efficacy of Anakinra Treatment for Patients With Post Acute Covid Syndrome (PRECISION)