Study Finds Hydroxychloroquine Lowered Death Rates in Hospitalized Patients

While several hydroxychloroquine trials in COVID-19 patients have been shuttered, a large study led by Michigan’s Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) has found that the antimalarial drug significantly cut death rates in hospitalized patients and could still hold promise as a COVID-19 treatment.

The results from an analysis of 2,541 patients, showed that 13 percent of patients treated with the antimalarial drug alone died compared to 26.4 percent of participants who did not get it. The HFHS researchers noted that none of the participants in their study had any serious documented heart issues because of the treatment and said that they monitored patients for the heart-related adverse events that previously raised concerns about the use of hydroxychloroquine.

In addition, patients given a combination of the antibiotic azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine “fared slightly better” than patients who didn’t receive the drugs, the study found. Of those who received the combination, 20.1 percent died compared to 22.4 percent of patients treated only with azithromycin and 26.4 percent of patients who did not get either one.

“Our analysis shows that using hydroxychloroquine helped saves lives,” said Steven Kalkanis, senior vice president and chief academic officer of HFHS. “As doctors and scientists, we look to the data for insight. And the data here is clear that there was benefit to using the drug as a treatment for sick, hospitalized patients.”

The positive results from the study have been peer-reviewed and highly analyzed, noted Marcus Zervos, HFHS division head of infectious disease and a co-author of the study, which was published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.

“We attribute our findings that differ from other studies to early treatment and part of a combination of interventions that were done in supportive care of patients, including careful cardiac monitoring,” Zervos said. “Our dosing also differed from other studies not showing a benefit of the drug. And other studies are either not peer-reviewed, have limited numbers of patients, different patient populations or other differences from our patients.”

The FDA revoked its Emergency Use Authorization for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in mid-June, citing multiple reports of heart-related adverse events and deaths in COVID-19 patients (DID, June 16).

Research into the drug is continuing elsewhere despite a growing sentiment that it isn’t a viable treatment for COVID-19. Last week, the University of Oxford resumed recruitment for its international study of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, which it decided to pause after a now-retracted study found the antimalarial drugs had no benefit as a COVID-19 treatment. The study is looking at the drug as a preventive measure rather than a treatment (DID, July 1).

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that it has ended the hydroxychloroquine arm of its international Solidarity COVID-19 trial, which was studying the drug in hospitalized patients. It has also discontinued an arm of the trial evaluating the antiretroviral drugs lopinavir/ritonavir but said it may study hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir in non-hospitalized patients or as preventive treatments.

“Interim trial results show that hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir produce little or no reduction in the mortality of hospitalized COVID-19 patients when compared to standard of care,” the WHO said.

The UK.’s Recovery trial also found that the drug did not reduce the risk of death in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and Novartis said it ended its hydroxychloroquine trial due to slow enrollment. — James Miessler