Interferon-α2b Treatment for COVID-19

Abstract

The global pandemic of COVID-19 cases caused by infection with SARS-CoV-2 is ongoing, with no approved antiviral intervention. We describe here the effects of treatment with interferon (IFN)-α2b in a cohort of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Wuhan, China. In this uncontrolled, exploratory study, 77 adults hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 were treated with either nebulized IFN-α2b (5 mU b.i.d.), arbidol (200 mg t.i.d.) or a combination of IFN-α2b plus arbidol. Serial SARS-CoV-2 testing along with hematological measurements, including cell counts, blood biochemistry and serum cytokine levels, and temperature and blood oxygen saturation levels, were recorded for each patient during their hospital stay. Treatment with IFN-α2b with or without arbidol significantly reduced the duration of detectable virus in the upper respiratory tract and in parallel reduced duration of elevated blood levels for the inflammatory markers IL-6 and CRP. These findings suggest that IFN-α2b should be further investigated as a therapy in COVID-19 cases.

Keywords: ARDS; COVID-19; IL-6; inflammation; interferon; viral shedding.

Figure 1

IFN-α2b treatment accelerated viral clearance. Confirmed COVID-19 cases were treated either with ARB alone (ARB; 24 patients) or IFN-α2b with or without ARB (IFN; 53 patients). Upper respiratory samples were assessed by PCR for the presence of SARS-CoV-2. Shown is the proportion of patients that had detectable virus as a function of the day of sampling from symptom onset. Empirical survival curves are shown here, while the p-value for treatment effect was assessed using a Cox proportional-hazards model that included age and co-morbidities as covariates.

Figure 2

Reduced inflammatory markers with IFN-α2b treatment. The same patients as in Figure 1 were serially sampled for assessment of interleukin-6 (IL-6; LHS panel) and C-reactive protein (CRP; RHS panel) from the day of symptom onset. Values recorded were aggregated across 3 day intervals and shown as the mean +/– S.E.