RAVEN [COVID-19]
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Ruxolitinib therapy to Avoid Ventilation and improve outcome for deteriorating COVID-19 patiENts.
IRAS ID
282549
Contact name
Donal McLornan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Guys and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
Eudract number
2020-001777-71
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 1 days
Research summary
The recent dramatic rise in COVID-19 disease has prompted an absolute necessity for rapid development of both preventative and therapeutic strategies. While the majority of patients recover from this disease, a noticeable number develop clinical complications mainly due to damage to the respiratory system and other vital organs such as kidney and heart with limited treatment options. Our current understanding of COVID-19 pathophysiology is that the damage to these vital organs, particularly lungs, is due to overactivation of patients’ immune system which creates a toxic environment for cells, known as cytokine storm syndrome. Cytokines are immune related proteins which are secreted by a variety of cells. Their secretion is controlled by feedback mechanisms such as the activation of a cascade of signals called JAK-STAT pathway. This pathway is known to be highly active in a type of blood cancers known as Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (MPN) where it also creates a mostly mild cytokine storm. There are similarities between the immune/cytokine responses in MPN and the later and severe stage of COVID-19 disease including increased amounts of specific cytokines. It is possible to inhibit this dysregulated immune response in MPN by administrating an inhibitor of JAK1 and JAK2 proteins which leads to a significant improvement in cytokine release and associated symptoms. We are going to test the use of this medicine (Ruxolitinib) to control severe immune dysregulation in COVID-19 patients and investigate its effect on complications, need for intensive care and death rate. We will also collect samples and measure multiple immune related biomarkers during the course of therapy and identify biomarkers which are related to, or indicate better response to, therapy in severe COVID-19.
REC name
North East - York Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/NE/0134
Date of REC Opinion
4 May 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion