A clinical trial is underway at major New York hospitals to test the efficacy of heartburn medication, in combination with the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, on coronavirus patients, The Post has learned.
More than 150 people so far are taking part in the study, which began earlier this month and is being conducted by the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, the research arm of Northwell Health, according to a spokesman for the hospital system.
Researchers are trying to find out whether famotidine — the active compound in the over-the-counter heartburn drug Pepcid — acts as an inhibitor of COVID-19, similar to the way certain drugs block the replication of HIV/AIDS.
Patients in the study are being given the heartburn drug intravenously along with hydroxychloroquine at Northwell’s North Shore University Hospital, Long Island Jewish Medical Center and Lenox Hill Hospital, said David Battinelli, vice president and chief medical officer of Northwell.
The researchers initially wanted to test famotidine on its own, but with so many patients now being treated with hydroxychloroquine, they wouldn’t have had enough test subjects, they told Science Magazine, which first reported the study.
Those taking the combination will be compared with a group taking only the anti-malarial and a control group.
Hydroxychloroquine has been touted as a promising treatment by President Trump and some doctors and patients, though the preliminary results of some local studies found no benefit.
Anecdotally, the heartburn drug shows promise, said Battinelli, adding that he hopes to recruit up to 1,250 patients for the trial.
This is the first known coronavirus-related study using the drug, the hospital spokesman said.
Five other clinical trials testing potential COVID-19 treatments are also underway at Northwell.
It’s unclear when the results will be made available.
