Hydroxychloroquine in Combination With Sirolimus and Dexamethasone for Treating COVID-19 Patients

COVID-19 caused an unprecedented international crisis. There is an urgent need for an effective regimen to cure this illness. Anecdotal data and some prospective results suggested a role of antimalarial drugs (chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine) in the treatment of this disease with best available data showing value of adding azithromycin. Based on drug repurposing studies done by our team and others, we identified the autophagy/apoptosis pathway as a major target for intervention. Based on in-silico and in-vitro models, sirolimus was identified as the drug that deserves urgent prioritization. The rational for combining sirolimus and hydroxychloroquine is explained in details in the study background below and a short video prepared by study PI (https://youtu.be/-zlOMXJp2hg). The evidence for using sirolimus for influenza is emphasized by a RCT that showed reduction of mechanical ventilation time by 50% (7 days on sirolimus arm vs 15 days on oseltamivir/steroids arm). Safe administration in human subjects is illustrated by multiple phase I/II clinical trials, performed in patients with cancer. COVID19-HOPE trial will randomize patients to 2 arms: HCQ/AZ (Arm A) and HCQ/SIR (Arm B). The main inclusion criteria is an RT-PCR test confirming infection with SARS-CoV-2 along with objective clinical criteria of disease (fever, tachypnea and/or hypoxemia). The primary endpoint of study will be Time To Clinical Improvement (TTCI), defined as time from randomization to resolution of the clinical features mentioned above (no fever, no tachypnea and no hypoxemia). In addition, secondary endpoints will include clinical failure by day 28 (need for intubation and/or death), QT interval prolongation, and adverse events. The estimated NNT based on Wilcoxon Mann Whitney comparison of TTCI in study arms is 58 patients (29 each arm). The study includes an adaptive plan, meaning that after different time points the study results will be evaluated and the NNT and randomization scheme (1:1