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The results of the aspirin arm of the RECOVERY trial have been announced, finding that aspirin does not improve survival for patients hospitalised with COVID-19.
Prof Anthony Gordon, Professor of Anaesthesia and Critical Care, and NIHR Research Professor, Imperial College London, said:
“In severe COVID-19 we know that there is a high risk of blood clots forming. Therefore evaluating treatments like aspirin to try and prevent blood clots and improve patient survival is very sensible. The RECOVERY result showing clearly that there is no benefit from aspirin in the wide group of patients in hospital with COVID-19 is therefore disappointing, but it is very important to know this. It emphasises why all treatments, no matter how widely used in other areas, should be tested in robust clinical trials.
“Importantly there were no major safety concerns and so the REMAP-CAP trial continues to evaluate aspirin and other similar drugs to prevent blood clots, in combination with other treatments in the sickest patients with COVID-19 in intensive care.”
Declared interests
Prof Anthony Gordon: “Anthony Gordon is the UK Chief Investigator for the REMAP-CAP trial (funded by NIHR and EU FP7 grants, with contribution of drug supplies from Roche, Sanofi and SOBI). His salary is supported through an NIHR Research Professor award and from the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, as the Chair of Anaesthesia & Critical Care at Imperial College London and he works as a consultant in Intensive Care at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. He has received consulting fees in the past three years from GSK, Bristol Myers Squibb and 30 Technology with fees paid to his institution. He has a current collaborative research grant from EIT Health with bioMérieux.”