WEDNESDAY, 20 MAY, 2020

For immediate release:

Tayside COVID-19 research recognised on International Clinical Trials Day

The importance of clinical trials has never been more pertinent and International Clinical Trials Day provides a valuable opportunity to recognise clinical trials staff to thank them for their work in improving public health.

International Clinical Trials Day is celebrated on Wednesday, 20 May, commemorating the day that aboard HMS Salisbury, Surgeon Mate James Lind started what is often considered the first randomised clinical trial in 1747.

The design of his trial may have inspired and informed future clinical trial design and his work is recognised for helping to cure and prevent scurvy, a disease which had cost the lives of approximately two million sailors.

On this day we would particularly like to acknowledge the teams who are working to deliver nationally-prioritised Urgent Public Health COVID-19 trials in Tayside as well as the patients who are participating.

Professor Jacob George, Tayside Research & Development Director and Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine & Therapeutics said, “This is the first pandemic many of us are experiencing in our lifetimes. The challenges are significant and impact every aspect of our lives.

“With the help of patients and volunteers, the research community is working extremely hard at an unprecedented pace to develop or repurpose therapies and vaccines to combat COVID-19. It is a real testament to the progress in clinical trials design and execution that we are able to do this in order to overcome the effects of this pandemic.”

Trials ongoing in Tayside:

REMAP-CAP (A Randomised, Embedded, Multi-factorial, Adaptive Platform Trial for Community-Acquired Pneumonia) aims to determine the best range of treatments for patients who are admitted to ICU after becoming severely ill due to COVID-19. It is the first clinical trial to be conducted in ICU in Tayside. It is led by Dr Pauline Austin, Consultant in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Ninewells Hospital.

RECOVERY is a national clinical trial for hospitalised COVID-19 patients led by the University of Oxford. The trial aims to establish the effectiveness of potential treatments by comparing usual care only, to usual care in combination with a number of potential treatments. The RECOVERY Trial team will constantly review information on new drugs and include promising ones in the trial.

RECOVERY has to date recruited 41 participants in Tayside thanks to the efforts of clinical research nurses provided by Clinical Research Centre (CRC) at Ninewells Hospital. The study is led locally by Professor James Chalmers, Consultant and Professor of Respiratory Research, Scottish Centre for Respiratory Research, Ninewells Hospital.

STOP-COVID19 (Superiority Trial Of Protease inhibition in COVID-19) is the first Scottish-led multi-centre placebo-controlled randomised drug trial in COVID19. The study is evaluating Brensocatib, an oral medication that has shown to reduce lung damage by inhibiting enzymes that destroy lung tissue. STOP-COVID19 is aiming to recruit 300 predominantly Scottish patients hospitalised with COVID-19. It is led by Professor James Chalmers in his University of Dundee role.

For further information on International Clinical Trials Day 2020, please visit https://www.clinicaltrialsday.org/

Contact:

NHS Tayside Communications

(01382) 740716