The Montreal Heart Institute (MHI) announced the results of its clinical trial -- COLCORONA -- on Saturday that proved the efficacy of colchicine drug against Covid-19.

According to the official release by the MHI, the trials have demonstrated that colchicine can mitigate the risk of death or hospitalization in Covid-19 patients by 21 per cent.

A widely available low-cost drug -- colchicine -- is used to treat gout and Behçet’s disease, an inflammatory disorder that affects different parts of the body.

The researchers carried out the trials in several countries, including Canada and the United States. They aimed to find out whether the drug can play a role in reducing complications associated with Covid-19.

Methodology

For the trials, the researchers examined around 4,500 patients who were not “hospitalized at the time of enrollment, with at least one risk factor for Covid-19 complications”. Montreal Heart Institute’s Montreal Health Innovations Coordinating Center coordinated the trials.

“In these patients with a proven diagnosis of Covid-19, colchicine reduced hospitalizations by 25 per cent, the need for mechanical ventilation by 50 per cent, and deaths by 44 per cent,” the release noted.

Director of the MHI Research Center, Dr. Jean-Claude Tardif, said, as cited in the release: “Our research shows the efficacy of colchicine treatment in preventing the ‘cytokine storm’ phenomenon and reducing the complications associated with Covid-19.”

Tardiff added that the drug will be the “first oral medication in the world” that will be used to prevent Covid-19 complications.

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