Pegylated interferon alfa-2b shows therapeutic potential in COVID-19

Use of pegylated interferon alfa-2b (PEG IFN-α2b) in the treatment of patients with moderate COVID-19 leads to improved clinical outcome, likely due to faster viral shedding, as compared with standard-of-care (SOC), according to the results of a phase II study.

The study randomized 40 adult patients (mean age, 49 years; 75 percent male) to receive a single 1 µg/kg dose of PEG IFN-α2b plus SOC (n=20) or SOC alone (n=20). All of them completed treatment except for one patient in the SOC alone group.

Fifteen patients in the PEG IFN-α2b arm and 13 in the SOC alone arm achieved the primary outcome of clinical improvement (measured using the WHO 7-point ordinal scale) at day 15 (95.0 percent vs 68.42 percent, respectively; p<0.05). Furthermore, PEG IFN-α2b-treated patients showed a greater reduction in mean score from baseline to day 15 (–2.25 vs –2.05).

Notably, treatment with the study drug shortened the duration of viral shedding. Overall, 80 percent and 95 percent of patients in the PEG IFN-α2b plus SOC arm had a negative RT-PCR result on days 7 and 14. This was markedly higher compared with the proportions in the SOC alone arm (63 percent and 68 percent, respectively).

Adverse events (AEs) occurred in 11 patients in the PEG IFN-α2b group and eight patients in the SOC alone group. All AEs were mild.

More studies are needed to validate the present findings.