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Accelerating Coronavirus Disease 2019 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines-Selecting Compounds for Clinical

Timothy G Buchman1, Ruxandra Draghia-Akli2, Stacey J Adam3

  • 1Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Office of Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC.

Critical Care Medicine
|September 8, 2021
PubMed

Insights

The Accelerating Coronavirus Disease 2019 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) partnership developed a process to evaluate over 750 potential COVID-19 treatments. This initiative advanced 20 agents into clinical trials and matched 25 for preclinical studies.

Area of Science:

  • Drug Discovery and Development
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Clinical Research

Background:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic created an urgent need for effective therapeutics.
  • The Accelerating Coronavirus Disease 2019 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) partnership was formed to expedite therapeutic development.
  • A structured process was required to rapidly assess and prioritize diverse candidate treatments.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To describe the establishment and function of the ACTIV Therapeutics-Clinical Working Group Agent Prioritization subgroup.
  • To outline the methodology for evaluating and prioritizing potential COVID-19 therapeutic agents.
  • To report on the outcomes of the agent prioritization process.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a uniform data collection and assessment process for therapeutic agents.
  • Established weighted review criteria tailored to different agent classes (antivirals, immune modulators, antibodies, organ support).
  • Evaluated over 750 preclinical and clinical candidate agents.

Main Results:

  • Prioritized promising candidates for inclusion in ACTIV master protocols.
  • Advanced 20 therapeutic agents into ACTIV master protocols between April 2020 and May 2021.
  • Matched 25 promising preclinical agents with laboratories for further study.

Conclusions:

  • The ACTIV Agent Prioritization subgroup successfully implemented a robust system for evaluating COVID-19 therapeutics.
  • The process facilitated the advancement of numerous promising candidates into further preclinical and clinical development.
  • This public-private partnership model accelerated the identification of potential treatments for coronavirus disease 2019.

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