To date, the few medications with proven effectiveness in COVID-19 are appropriate primarily for the treatment of severely ill, hospitalized patients in well-resourced healthcare settings. WHO recommends the use of monoclonal antibody treatment for people with early-stage COVID-19, but these treatments too are expensive and complex to use in resource-constrained settings. No proven medications for uncomplicated COVID-19 are widely available in low- and middle-income countries.

So where are we today with new and emerging therapeutics that would be both effective and affordable in preventing the progression of mild or moderate COVID-19 and thereby prevent hospitalization? A couple of promising treatments have emerged recently, with early efforts underway to make these drugs more available than COVID-19 vaccines have been. What are the current research priorities, and do current efforts meet the needs?

The COVID-19 Clinical Research Coalition is hosting a webinar that will:
• Summarize the therapeutics development landscape for COVID-19
• Discuss the challenges in prioritizing drugs to be studied
• Assess the treatment needs in low- and middle-income countries
• Discuss the challenges of ensuring affordable access to new therapeutics, and what can be done now to ensure equitable access globally to proven medicines.

Watch the recording

Agenda

Welcome and introduction – Prof. Patricia García, Cayetano Heredia University, Peru

Where are we now with COVID-19 therapeutics? A Latin American perspective – Dr Ludovic Reveiz, PAHO, USA

Where are we now with COVID-19 therapeutics? A South African perspective – Dr Jeremy Nel, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Practical realities in COVID-19 treatment now. What is needed? – Dr Samba Sow, Centre for Vaccine Development, Mali

Impact of recent clinical trial results on current research priorities – Dr Nathalie Strub-Wourgaft, DNDi, Switzerland

If medicines work, how can we ensure people get them? – Ms Leena Menghaney, MSF Access Campaign, India

Roundtable and Q&A – moderated by Dr Podjanee Jittamala, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Thailand, and Prof. Nick White, Mahidol-Oxford Research Unit, Thailand

Closing