Just published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Therapeutics, Dr. Tess Lawrie, an expert in medicinal evidence, along with other experts in population health and gastroenterology out of the United Kingdom (UK), conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis involving the certainty of evidence using an approach known as GRADE, which led to the focus on twenty-four ivermectin-centered randomized controlled trials involving 3,406 participants. The authors concluded based on this extensive review that ivermectin actually reduced the risk of death compared with no ivermectin (average risk ratio 0.38, 95% CI 0.19-0.73; n = 2438; I2 = 49%; moderate-certainty evidence). This result, posits Dr. Lawrie and team, confirmed via trial sequential analysis employing what was the same DerSimonian-Laird method behind the unadjusted analysis. The authors also ran their findings against a trial sequential analysis employing the Biggerstaff-Tweedie method. They found low-certainty evidence that ivermectin prophylaxis (as a preventive method) actually lowered infection association with SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19, by an average of 86% (95% CI 79-91%). Also, the team’s findings reveal that the evidence for secondary outcomes, such as efficacy associated with “need for mechanical ventilation” is less compelling; however, effective estimates for “improvement” and “deterioration” point to the positive impact of ivermectin use. The authors found little safety risk as reports of severe adverse events were rare among the reviewed studies.
This study published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Therapeutics suggests a “moderate-certainty evidence” indicating a substantial reduction in COVID-19 related deaths would be a feasible outcome with the use of ivermectin. The study results mirror what TrialSite’s observed in study after study from Bangladesh and India to Peru and Argentina; from Israel and Nigeria to the ICON study in South Florida and population-wide public health initiatives using ivermectin from Mexico City to Uttar Pradesh, India, that there’s now overwhelming data that this generic drug used as an antiparasitic treatment should be considered on at least an emergency basis as another tool in the medical tool chest to fight SARS-CoV-2.
Dr. Lawrie shared with the TrialSite:
“We are overjoyed to have the product of months of hard work finally published! And what a wonderful author team – it’s been an honour to work with people of such high integrity, who maintained a spirit of hope and optimism in spite of all the difficulties with which we have been confronted. Thank you for not giving up! Now the authorities have all the evidence they need to approve ivermectin immediately.”
The preprint of this review received no funding. This updated version was funded by the crowdfunding initiative.
TrialSite’s Coverage of Ivermectin
TrialSite’s been one of the few, if not the only, media platforms to consistently chronicle ivermectin-based research since the initial findings of a group of scientists last April at Monash University that the generic drug absolutely destroys the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen in a lab setting. TrialSite chronicled the organization, conduct, and conclusion of dozens of studies since then. The platform’s only been rivaled by the anonymously owned platform that tracks every ivermectin study, now at 60. One of the key authors here, Dr. Tess Lawrie, has been a guest on the TrialSite podcast and is a frequent contributor.
Lead Research/Investigator
- Andrew Bryant, MSc, Division of Gastroenterology, Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom
- Theresa A. Lawrie, MBBCh, PhD, Division of Gastroenterology, Evidence-based Medicine Consultancy, Bath, United Kingdom
- Therese Dowswell, PhD, Division of Gastroenterology, Evidence-based Medicine Consultancy, Bath, United Kingdom
- Edmund J. Fordham, PhD, Division of Gastroenterology, Evidence-based Medicine Consultancy, Bath, United Kingdom
- Scott Mitchell, MBChB, MRCS, Emergency Department, Princess Elizabeth Hospital, Guernsey, United Kingdom
- Sarah R. Hill, PhD, Division of Gastroenterology, Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom
- Tony C. Tham, MD, FRCP, Division of Gastroenterology, Ulster Hospital, Dundonald, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Call to Action: Perhaps health regulators and apex research institutes can revisit their assessment of this drug. Note the corresponding author is Andrew Bryant who can be reached at andy.bryant@ucl.ac.uk
