Efficacy and safety of deferoxamine in moderately ill COVID-19 patients: An open label, randomized controlled trial

Deferoxamine is a potent iron chelator that could remove iron from the virus, and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 requires iron to replication. Also, deferoxamine has antioxidant and cytokine-modulating effects. Therefore, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of deferoxamine in patients with moderate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

In this randomized controlled trial, patients with moderate COVID-19 were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to the deferoxamine group (received a solution of 500 mg deferoxamine divided into 4 doses a day through a nebulizer for 7 days) and the control group. The main outcomes were viral clearance, oxygen saturation (SPO2), body temperature, and respiratory rate (RR). Intensive care unit admission, hospital length of stay, and hospital mortality were also assessed.

A total of 62 patients, with 30 in the deferoxamine group and 32 in the control group, were randomly assigned. There was no statistically significant improvement in viral clearance after the intervention ended in the deferoxamine group (36.7%) compared to the control group (34.4%). The results showed there was no significant difference between the analyzed groups in terms of SPO2, body temperature, RR, and the number of patients with a worse prognosis (SPO2 < 96%, temperature ≥ 37.5 °C, or RR ≥ 16/min) at the end of the study. There were no significant differences seen between the groups in terms of intensive care unit admission, hospital length of stay, hospital mortality, and the occurrence of adverse medication events during the follow-up period.

Deferoxamine had no significant impact on improving moderately ill patients with COVID-19. However, it was well-tolerated in the patients, and this intervention demonstrated a safe profile of adverse events.