TrialSite recently introduced the “IVERCOVID” study out of Lagos, Nigeria. Thanks to the pledge of federal backing by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo in support of developing a research culture in Nigeria, that substantial political figure here inspired an ongoing research effort led by a well-respected Ophthalmologist named Dr. Olufemi Babalola. Called IVERCOVID, this small but important study demonstrates that a low-cost, generic drug commonly used in Nigeria, ivermectin, actually markedly reduces duration of SARS-CoV-2 infection from 9 days in the placebo group to 4.3 days in the ivermectin group. TrialSite’s Daniel O’Connor took some time over a Zoom chat with Dr. Babalola to learn more about this study and this interesting principal investigator. As it turns out, while thankful for the high-level support from the Vice-President, research funds have not as of yet arrived, eight months after the first proposal. Given the pandemic’s intensification in Nigeria, Dr. Babalola commenced the study, funding it himself. Driven by a calling to improve human health conditions, the physician/scientist and entrepreneur single-handedly, along with support of study staff, ensured the completion of this important trial. The results of the study while not yet published (they are in preprint) hopefully will be published soon, perhaps by the Quarterly Journal of Medicine. Importantly, Dr. Babalola, an expert in tropical Ophthalmology, spent decades studying ivermectin as he pursued the treatment of tropical-born parasitic diseases such as Onchocerciasis and Trachoma.
The Early Days on Merck’s ‘Mectizan’ Program
