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. 2021 May 11:373:n1038.
doi: 10.1136/bmj.n1038.

Use of repurposed and adjuvant drugs in hospital patients with covid-19: multinational network cohort study

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Free PMC article

Use of repurposed and adjuvant drugs in hospital patients with covid-19: multinational network cohort study

Albert Prats-Uribe et al. BMJ. .
Free PMC article

Erratum in

  • Correction for vol. 373, p.
    [No authors listed] [No authors listed] BMJ. 2021 May 21;373:n1277. doi: 10.1136/bmj.n1277. BMJ. 2021. PMID: 34020967 Free PMC article.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the use of repurposed and adjuvant drugs in patients admitted to hospital with covid-19 across three continents.

Design: Multinational network cohort study.

Setting: Hospital electronic health records from the United States, Spain, and China, and nationwide claims data from South Korea.

Participants: 303 264 patients admitted to hospital with covid-19 from January 2020 to December 2020.

Main outcome measures: Prescriptions or dispensations of any drug on or 30 days after the date of hospital admission for covid-19.

Results: Of the 303 264 patients included, 290 131 were from the US, 7599 from South Korea, 5230 from Spain, and 304 from China. 3455 drugs were identified. Common repurposed drugs were hydroxychloroquine (used in from <5 (<2%) patients in China to 2165 (85.1%) in Spain), azithromycin (from 15 (4.9%) in China to 1473 (57.9%) in Spain), combined lopinavir and ritonavir (from 156 (<2%) in the VA-OMOP US to 2,652 (34.9%) in South Korea and 1285 (50.5%) in Spain), and umifenovir (0% in the US, South Korea, and Spain and 238 (78.3%) in China). Use of adjunctive drugs varied greatly, with the five most used treatments being enoxaparin, fluoroquinolones, ceftriaxone, vitamin D, and corticosteroids. Hydroxychloroquine use increased rapidly from March to April 2020 but declined steeply in May to June and remained low for the rest of the year. The use of dexamethasone and corticosteroids increased steadily during 2020.

Conclusions: Multiple drugs were used in the first few months of the covid-19 pandemic, with substantial geographical and temporal variation. Hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, lopinavir-ritonavir, and umifenovir (in China only) were the most prescribed repurposed drugs. Antithrombotics, antibiotics, H2 receptor antagonists, and corticosteroids were often used as adjunctive treatments. Research is needed on the comparative risk and benefit of these treatments in the management of covid-19.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf and declare: support from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the submitted work; AP-U reports grants from Fundacion Alfonso Martin Escudero and the Medical Research Council, outside the submitted work; AGS reports personal fees from Janssen Research and Development, during the conduct of the study and personal fees from Janssen Research and Development, outside the submitted work; W-U-RA reports funding from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Aziz Foundation, Wolfson Foundation, and the Royal College Surgeons of England; AG reports personal fees from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and full time employment at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, outside the submitted work; DRM reports funding support from the Wellcome Trust, NIHR, Scottish Chief Scientist Office, and Tenovus Scotland for research unrelated to this work; FN was an employee of AstraZeneca until 2019, before the conduct of this study, owns some AstraZeneca shares, and has other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work; VS reports funding from the US National Science Foundation, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality through the University of Utah, and Arizona Board of Regents; DV reports personal fees from Bayer, outside the submitted work, and full time employment at Bayer; JC reports grants from the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, during the conduct of the study; SCY reports grants from the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, during the conduct of the study; PRR reports grants from Innovative Medicines Initiative and Janssen Research and Development, during the conduct of the study; GH reports grants from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Library of Medicine, during the conduct of the study; grants from Janssen Research, outside the submitted work; CR is an employee of IQVIA; MAS reports grants from the US National Science Foundation, US NIH, and IQVIA, personal fees from Janssen Research and Development, during the conduct of the study; KK is an employee of IQVIA; PR is an employee of Janssen Research and Development and shareholder of Johnson & Johnson; DP-A reports grants and other from Amgen; grants, non-financial support, and other from UCB Biopharma; and grants from Les Laboratoires Servier, outside the submitted work; and Janssen, on behalf of the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) funded European Health Data and Evidence Network (EHDEN) and European Medical Information Framework (EMIF) consortiums, and Synapse Management Partners have supported training programmes organised by DP-A’s department and are open for external participants.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1
Timeline of study
Fig 2
Fig 2
Percentage of any use (one day or more) of all drugs (rainbow plot) on days 0 to 30 after hospital admission in patients with a positive test result for or diagnosis of covid-19. CUIMC=Columbia University Irving Medical Center; HIRA=Health Insurance Review and Assessment; OMOP=Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership; Optum-EHR=Optum deidentified electronic health record dataset; STARR=STAnford medicine Research data Repository; TRDW=Tufts Research Data Warehouse; VA=Veterans Affairs
Fig 3
Fig 3
Percentage of any use (one day or more) of selected drugs on days 0 to 30 after hospital admission in patients with a positive test result for or diagnosis of covid-19. CUIMC=Columbia University Irving Medical Center; HIRA=Health Insurance Review and Assessment; OMOP=Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership; Optum-EHR=Optum deidentified electronic health record dataset; STARR=STAnford medicine Research data Repository; TRDW=Tufts Research Data Warehouse; VA=Veterans Affairs
Fig 4
Fig 4
Time trends in hydroxychloroquine use on days 0 to 30 after hospital admission in patients with a positive test result for or diagnosis of covid-19 by month. CUIMC=Columbia University Irving Medical Center; HIRA=Health Insurance Review and Assessment; OMOP=Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership; Optum-EHR=Optum deidentified electronic health record dataset; STARR=STAnford medicine Research data Repository; VA=Veterans Affairs
Fig 5
Fig 5
Time trends in remdesivir use on days 0 to 30 after hospital admission in patients with a positive test result for or diagnosis of covid-19 by month. ACTT-1=Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial 1; CUIMC=Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Fig 6
Fig 6
Time trends combined lopinavir and ritonavir use on days 0 to 30 after hospital admission in patients with a positive test result for or diagnosis of covid-19 by month. CUIMC=Columbia University Irving Medical Center; HIRA=Health Insurance Review and Assessment; OMOP=Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership; Optum-EHR=Optum deidentified electronic health record dataset; VA=Veterans Affairs
Fig 7
Fig 7
Time trends in dexamethasone use on days 0 to 30 after hospital admission in patients with a positive test result for or diagnosis of covid-19 by month. CUIMC=Columbia University Irving Medical Center; HIRA=Health Insurance Review and Assessment; OMOP=Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership; Optum-EHR=Optum deidentified electronic health record dataset; STARR=STAnford medicine Research data Repository; VA=Veterans Affairs

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