5 hospitals in India selected to conduct WHO's Solidarity COVID-19 clinical trial

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New Delhi: At least five hospitals across the country have been selected to conduct the randomised, controlled clinical trials under the umbrella of World Health Organization (WHO) Solidarity trial to find an effective COVID-19 treatment.

Four hospitals have already got the approval from Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) and have begun trials, stated a government official.

Medical institutes like BJ Medical College and Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, AIIMS in Jodhpur and Apollo Hospital in Chennai will perform clinical trials on four treatment protocols of COVID-19 which includes--1) Remdesivir, 2) combination of Lopinavir and Ritonavir, 3) Hydroxychloroquine and Lopinavir and 4) Ritonavir with Interferon beta-1a.

Dr Sheela Godbole, National Coordinator of the WHO-India Solidarity Trial and Head of the Division of Epidemiology, ICMR-National AIDS Research Institute said: "We want at least 1,500 patients in total to be enrolled for all clinical sites. We have started to register the patients. In other countries also, patients are getting enrolled for this trial to get maximum evidence from COVID-19 patients."

She stated that the trial would be discounted if any patient will show an adverse effect of the drug.

Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases in India rose to 56,342 with 1,886 fatalities. The world tally of coronavirus positive cases is more than 39 lakhs with over 2.46 lakh deaths reported.