News

  • Getting a clinical trial site up and running

    by ASCOT Trial
    Setting up a clinical trial can take many months, even years. However, over the last six months, research teams around the globe have been pushed to their limits to set up and conduct randomised clinical trials to the same gold standard that is expected during non-COVID-19 times, but in record time.

  • Statement from the Australasian COVID-19 Trial (ASCOT) Trial Steering Committee

    by ASCOT Trial
    The ASCOT Trial Steering Committee met on June 9 2020 to discuss recent updates on hydroxychloroquine from external studies.

  • Responding to emerging data in the time of COVID-19

    by ASCOT Trial

    Does hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) have a role in the treatment of COVID-19? Results of a large database published in The Lancet showing an increased mortality were cause for thought, discussion and convening of a host of meetings to consider how to progress a clinical trial with emerging evidence. 

  • AustralaSian COVID-19 Trial to proceed with hydroxychloroquine arm

    by ASCOT Trial
    The governance committees for the AustralaSian COVID-19 Trial (ASCOT) have unanimously agreed that ASCOT should proceed with randomising patients to the hydroxychloroquine arms of the study.

  • Statement on the status of AustralaSian COVID-19 Trial (ASCOT)

    by ASCOT Trial
    Following an observational study published in The Lancet on Friday, 22 May, the AustralaSian COVID-19 Trial (ASCOT) has paused patient recruitment pending deliberations by the governance and ethics committees overseeing the trial.

  • Musings on the linguistic aspects of COVID-19

    by ASCOT Trial
    Nearly every aspect of our daily lives has been changed in some way by the COVID-19 pandemic. One area which has been highly affected, but which many people don’t consciously notice, is our use of language. 

  • Sample collection will help us understand COVID-19

    by ASCOT Trial
    As part of the ASCOT trial, we are establishing a collection of blood and other samples that are donated by people enrolled in the study, which will be used for research, immediately and into the future. 

  • Critique of hydroxychloroquine studies to date

    by ASCOT Trial

    There has been a lot of controversy about hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as a therapeutic intervention for COVID-19. Given the recently available studies suggesting little or no benefit of HCQ and potential harm we have received questions about; Should we continue to include HCQ? Or should we be using this dose of HCQ?

  • BHP Foundation commits $3M to prevention and treatment of COVID-19

    by ASCOT Trial
    The BHP Foundation has generously committed $1 million for the AustralaSian COVID-19 Trial (ASCOT), a clinical trial aimed at testing the effectiveness and safety of potential drugs in patients hospitalised with COVID-19.

  • Keeping up with COVID

    by ASCOT Trial
    AustralaSian COVID-19 Trial (ASCOT) has launched with a focus on evaluating two medications with early suggestions of potential benefit in hospitalised patients with SARS-CoV-2; hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir. Both are repurposed medications, meaning that they have been used for other conditions before.

  • New COVID-19 treatments explainer in ABC News

    by ASCOT Trial
    An explainer 'Hydroxychloroquine, antibody therapy and antivirals: The coronavirus treatments being investigated and how long they might take' writ...

  • The COVID-19 treatment trials that ‘learn as they go’

    by ASCOT Trial
    Innovative COVID-19 treatment trials enable us to quickly hone in on the most promising treatments, saving time and potentially saving lives.