£3.2m for clinical trials for new virus treatments

THE Government is to provide £3.2 million to fund clinical trials into innovative new treatments which could prevent the most vulnerable from becoming infected with Covid19.

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHCS) said hundreds of thousands of people could potentially benefit from the treatments aimed preventing the spread of the disease in care homes and among those with weakened immune systems.

The Project-V trial, run by Cambridge University, will look at treatments which could provide protection over and above that offered by the vaccines to immunocompromised groups such as kidney dialysis patients.

It will receive £1.5 million for the trials which are expected to last at least 12 months, with 2,250 people taking part.

If they prove successful, the DHSC said there were 500,000 people in England alone who could benefit from the treatments which would be made rapidly available on the NHS.

A further £1.7 million will go to the Project-CH trial, run by Nottingham University, which is looking at treatments for reducing transmission and serious illness from the virus among care home residents and staff.

It aims to recruit more than 400 care homes – covering around 12,000 elderly residents – to take part in the trials which will run for around two years.

Around 420,000 care home residents across the UK stand to benefit if they are successful.

Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, said: “The more proven clinical tools we can use to protect these very vulnerable groups the better, so I encourage as many eligible individuals, care home operators and residents to take part in these studies.”

Innovation minister Lord Bethell added: “Vulnerable groups have been disproportionately impacted by the virus and these Government-funded trials will provide us with invaluable data so we can ensure they get every possible form of defence against the virus.”