The University of Oxford team behind the so-called RECOVERY trial – which honed in on four effective treatments for COVID – on Tuesday presented a new trial, dubbed PLATINUM, to confirm whether SIGA Technologies’ tecovirimat is an effective treatment for the monkey pox. Although there are vaccines developed for the closely related smallpox that can reduce the risk of catching monkeypox, there are currently no treatments that have been shown to help speed recovery in those who develop the disease. More than 40,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox – including some deaths – in more than 80 countries where the virus is not endemic have been reported since early May. More than 35% of the current global number of cases are in the United States, while the United Kingdom has more than 3,000 confirmed cases. The virus is mainly transmitted through close contact with an infected person. It usually causes mild symptoms such as fever, rash, swollen lymph nodes and pus-filled skin lesions. Severe cases can occur, although people tend to recover within two to four weeks, according to the WHO. Siga’s drug, branded Tpoxx, has been approved for the treatment of diseases caused by the orthopoxvirus family that includes smallpox, monkeypox and cowpox in the European Union and the United Kingdom, but due to limited testing data is generally only used in serious cases in Britain. In the United States and Canada, the drug is only approved for the treatment of smallpox. Since smallpox has been eradicated and cases of monkeypox and cowpox usually occur sporadically, no studies have yet been conducted to evaluate the drug’s effectiveness in infected individuals. Instead, its effectiveness is based on studies in animals infected with lethal doses of orthopox viruses, as well as tests of the drug’s effects in healthy humans. The PLATINUM trial, funded by a £3.7 million ($4.35 million) UK government grant, aims to recruit at least 500 participants. Participants will be given either a 14-day course of twice-daily tecovirimat or a placebo. To assess the drug’s effectiveness, the rate of healing of lesions, the time it takes until patients test negative for the virus and the proportion of patients requiring hospitalization for complications will be monitored. “I hope we can have a result before Christmas, but it depends on the recruitment rate,” said Sir Peter Horby, Professor of Emerging Infections and Global Health at the University of Oxford and director of the new Pandemic Sciences Institute. . Earlier this month, US officials said they were planning a randomized clinical trial in the country to determine whether tecovirimat should get US approval for monkeypox. Siga, which sells an oral and intravenous formulation of the drug, has already received $60 million worth of orders for oral tecovirimat this year. Meanwhile, the only approved monkeypox vaccine – made by the Danish company Bavarian Nordic – is in short supply, prompting countries to stretch existing supplies. ($1 = 0.8499 pounds) (Reporting by Natalie Grover in London; Editing by Jan Harvey) Reuters
