Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious disease, caused by a novel enveloped RNA beta-coronavirus, also known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). This disease has caused a global health crisis.~While the majority of patients with COVID-19 develop a mild or uncomplicated illness, approximately 20-30% of hospitalized patients have required intensive care support and 5% of those have multi-organ failure or shock. The case fatality rate ranges from 1 to 4% and it is higher among those with pre-existing comorbid conditions (high-risk) such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, obesity, chronic respiratory disease, hypertension, and cancer.~To date, treatments for COVID-19 in high-risk individuals remain experimental and therapeutic strategies to deal with the infection are at best supportive, with prevention aimed at reducing transmission in the community as the best weapon. No proven therapies have been demonstrated to prevent progression of COVID-19 to severe illness in confirmed outpatients with COVID-19 and this is a critical unmet need for high-risk individuals and warrants study. Furthermore, there are no effective medications for the use in outpatients with confirmed mild to moderate COVID-19 disease.~This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-arm, multicenter, phase II trial design to allow a rapid efficacy and toxicity assessment of potential therapies, camostat mesilate (serine protease inhibitor) and Artemisia annua (unknown mechanism) immediately after COVID-19 positive testing in mild to moderate disease and high-risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity among others. The hypothesis of this study is that the addition of agents that inhibit viral entry or replication of SARS-CoV-2 virus, such as Artemisia annua and camostat, will reduce the rate of a composite outcome of hospitalization due to COVID-19 pneumonia or the use of oxygen therapy; will be devoid of additional moderate to severe toxicities; and will improve viral clearance at Day 14 in high-risk individuals. The main hypothesis is that the clinical outcomes in COVID-19 infected patients at higher risk of poor outcomes following infection will be improved compared to the standard of care when introduced as an early intervention after diagnosis.
This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-arm, multicenter, phase II trial design to allow a rapid efficacy and toxicity assessment of potential therapies (camostat mesilate and artemisia annua) immediately after COVID-19 positive testing in mild to moderate disease and high-risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity among others.