ASCOT is a clinical trial that will generate clinical evidence about treatment for COVID-19 that can be applied during the pandemic to reduce mortality or the need for mechanical ventilation in hospitalised but not yet critically ill patients with COVID-19.
Following reports that that hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir are not effective in reducing mortality from COVID-19, the AustralaSian COVID-19 Trial (ASCOT) Steering Committee has also made the decision to remove the hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir arms of the Trial.
Convalescent plasma has been introduced to the AustralaSian COVID-19 Trial (ASCOT) and Randomised, Embedded, Multi-factorial, Adaptive Platform Trial for Community-Acquired Pneumonia (REMAP-CAP) clinical trials in a bid to identify the best strategy to treat patients hospitalised with COVID-19.
The world, as we alive now know it, is in uncharted territory. COVID-19 has spread inexorably to every part of our planet. Governments, leaders, and health care policy professionals are engaging with health care providers, business and social experts to curb the march of fatality and disease. Economic and broader threats to communities are emerging daily. To face down this menace, all have responded with unparalleled speed.
