Volunteers needed to help find COVID-19 treatments
People who test positive for COVID-19 across the south are being urged to take part in a clinical trial into new treatments.
The PANORAMIC trial is investigating the effectiveness of antiviral treatments for treating COVID-19 in the community. It is the world’s largest trial into these and needs local people to take part.
Taking part ‘easy’
It remains vitally important to research the effectiveness of COVID-19 treatments. This is to ensure people are best protected against future infections.
Regions across the UK are providing vital data to enable the rapid deployment of potentially life-saving treatments. The Wessex region has already made a significant contribution.
Since the study opened in December 2021, nearly 500 volunteers in Wessex have come forward. This is thanks to local participants and the hard work of primary care teams across the region, supported by NIHR Clinical Research Network Wessex.
58-year-old Deborah Lancaster lives in Highcliffe, Dorset. She joined the study in December 2022, following a positive test for COVID-19.
She said: “This is the first study I have taken part in. I was really happy to be involved, and it hasn’t taken up much time. I filled in an online questionnaire, and there were some follow-up phone calls with the research nurses. It has been really easy and I will definitely volunteer again.”
Building on past success
Molnupiravir (brand name, Lagevrio) was the first antiviral pill tested as part of the trial. The results are now available and have provided vital information about the effectiveness of molnupiravir in the UK. Although the drug did help symptoms settle, it did not prevent hospital admissions.
PANORAMIC has now moved onto testing Paxlovid which is potentially a much more effective drug, and is an oral antiviral pill taken at home. It has already been shown to reduce the risk of death or hospitalisation by 88% in clinical trials of unvaccinated people who have COVID-19, but we urgently need to show whether it works in the UK.
The medication is intended for use in the very early stages of infection. It could help clinically vulnerable people with COVID-19 recover sooner. This could prevent the need for hospital admissions, and ease the burden on the NHS.
More participants are now needed to help reach the study’s target numbers and maximise results.
How to take part
Local people can join the study if they are aged 50 and over, or between 18 to 49 years with underlying health conditions which make them clinically vulnerable.
All participants need to have had a positive COVID-19 test and be within five days of the onset of symptoms. Anyone who meets the eligibility criteria can sign-up to take part in the study directly through the trial website: www.panoramictrial.org
All participants will take part from their own homes, without needing to visit a clinic or a hospital. Participants will be randomly assigned to two groups. Those assigned to the group that receives an antiviral treatment will have their medicines sent directly to their homes by courier.
Participants will keep a daily diary for 28 days through the PANORAMIC website. They will receive a phone call from the trial team on days 7, 14 and 28 to speak about their symptoms and any NHS care they have needed.
Prof Paul Little, Professor of Primary Care Research at the University of Southampton and co-Chief Investigator of PANORAMIC, said:
“We’ve had an excellent response from local people so far, which we are very grateful for. This has meant we now have vital information about whether, and how well, the first antiviral we tested works.
“We need your help to continue to find treatments that work for those most at risk from COVID-19. If you test positive for COVID-19 and meet the criteria, please consider taking part.”
Professor Chris Butler, co-Chief Investigator, University of Oxford, said:
“It is early on in the illness, when people are still being cared for in the community, that treatments for COVID-19 could have their greatest benefit.
“The PANORAMIC trial is testing whether novel, promising antiviral treatments help people suffering from COVID in the community recover faster and reduce the need for treatment in hospital.
“It is critically important that new treatments are tested in people and in the situation where they are intended to be used; joining the PANORAMIC trial will help ensure people with COVID, and indeed the NHS, get the maximum benefit from these precious treatments.”