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Long-term follow-up of treatment comparisons in RECOVERY: a randomised, open-label, platform trial for patients hospitalised with COVID-19

Horby PW, Peto L, Campbell M, Wade R, Pessoa-Amorim G, Tobert V, Staplin N, Emberson JR et al.

2025

48,402 participants

Abstract

SUMMARY:

Background: The Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy (RECOVERY) trial evaluated the effects of sixteen potential treatments for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. Dexamethasone (at a dose of 6mg daily), tocilizumab, baricitinib, and the monoclonal antibodies casirivimab-imdevimab and sotrovimab were shown to reduce 28-day mortality in all or specific groups of patients. Here we report the long-term efficacy and safety of all sixteen therapies.

Methods: Patients hospitalised with COVID-19 were potentially eligible to join this randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial. Participants were randomly allocated to receive each trial treatment, or not, on top of usual care. Analyses were by intention to treat comparing each treatment with its own usual care control group. The pre-specified primary long-term follow-up outcome was 6-month all-cause mortality, presented as mortality rate ratios adjusted for baseline age and ventilation status. The key safety outcomes were major non-COVID infection and non-COVID death at 6 months. ISRCTN50189673 and NCT04381936 .

Findings: Between 19 March 2020 and 19 March 2024, 48,402 patients were included in RECOVERY COVID-19 treatment comparisons. For each of the treatments previously demonstrated to be effective at 28 days, the early mortality benefit was preserved up to 6 months. Among 6425 patients in the dexamethasone (6mg daily) comparison, 6-month mortality was 34.3% vs 44.4% in the invasive mechanical ventilation…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design. Reported size: 48,402 participants or records.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

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