The world’s biggest trial of potential Covid-19 treatments, which is being organised through Oxford University, hopes to have results in June if not sooner, the head of the trial has said.
The Recovery trial has recruited more than 5,000 patients in 165 NHS hospitals nationwide over the past month, making it “by far the largest trial in the world”, said Peter Horby, professor of emerging infectious diseases and global health at Oxford University.
The trial involves a number of potential Covid-19 treatments, including hydroxychloroquine, the drug championed by US President Donald Trump as a potential Covid-19 cure despite a current lack of evidence. Horby said he expected to have results in June, making his trial the first in the world to have definitive data. “If it is really clear that there are benefits, an answer will be available quicker,” he said, although he cautioned that there would be no “magic bullet”.