COVID-19 therapeutics in resource-constrained settings: Where are we and what do we need?
COVID-19 Clinical Research Coalition
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 health-care 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.
PRELIMINARY AGENDA
Welcome and introduction
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Where are we now with COVID-19 therapeutics? A Latin American perspective
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Where are we now with COVID-19 therapeutics? A South African perspective
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Practical realities in COVID-19 treatment now. What is needed?
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Impact of recent clinical trial results on current research priorities
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If medicines work, how can we ensure people get them?
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Roundtable and Q&A
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Closing