Simvastatin, a widely available and inexpensive drug that is included on the WHO list of essential medicines, was shown to have a high probability (96%) of improving outcomes (a combination of survival and length of time patients need support in an intensive care unit) when started as a treatment for critically ill patients with COVID-19, and a 92% chance of improving survival at 3 months. This equates to one life saved for every 33 patients treated with simvastatin. 2,684 critically ill patients were included at 141 hospitals across 13 countries.

Vitamin C is widely available around the world and was used in some settings for the treatment of COVID-19. Through harmonising two clinical trials – REMAP-CAP and LOVIT-COVID – over 2,500 patients in 20 countries took part, including both critically ill and non-critically ill patients with COVID-19 in hospital. It was shown that high-dose vitamin C did not improve outcomes for patients. This is the largest trial examining high-dose vitamin C in COVID-19 and provides evidence that high-dose vitamin C is not beneficial and suggests a high probability that it may be harmful.

In this randomized clinical trial that included 779 patients, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve organ support–free days. Among critically ill patients, there was a 95% probability that treatments worsened this outcome.

Among critically ill patients with COVID-19 randomized to receive one or more therapeutic interventions, treatment with an IL-6 receptor antagonist had a greater than 99.9% probability of improved 180-day mortality compared with the control group. Treatment with an antiplatelet had a 95.0% probability of improved 180-day mortality.

Among critically ill patients with COVID-19, treatment with an antiplatelet agent, compared with no antiplatelet agent, had a low likelihood of providing improvement in the number of organ support–free days within 21 days.

Administration of either tocilizumab or sarilumab was associated with lower 28-day all-cause mortality compared with usual care or placebo. The association is not dependent on the choice of interleukin-6 receptor antagonist.

The objective of this trial was to evaluate the effects of lopinavir-ritonavir, hydroxychloroquine, and combination therapy of lopinavir-ritonavir and hydroxychloroquine compared to no COVID-19 antiviral therapy on organ support-free days in critically ill patients with COVID-19.

This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice.

This collaborative meta-analysis of 28 published or unpublished RCTs, including 10,319 patients, shows that treatment with HCQ was associated with increased mortality in COVID-19 patients, and there was no benefit from treatment with CQ.

In critically ill patients with Covid-19 receiving organ support in ICUs, treatment with the interleukin-6 receptor antagonists tocilizumab and sarilumab improved outcomes, including survival.

Among patients with severe COVID-19, treatment with a 7-day fixed-dose course of hydrocortisone or shock-dependent dosing of hydrocortisone, compared with no hydrocortisone, resulted in 93% and 80% probabilities of superiority with regard to the odds of improvement in organ support–free days within 21 days. However, the trial was stopped early and no treatment strategy met prespecified criteria for statistical superiority, precluding definitive conclusions.