Inhaled Aviptadil Is a New Hope for Recovery of Lung Damage due to COVID-19

• Published in: Medical principles and practice Vol. 34; no. 2; pp. 191 - 200
• Main Authors: Esendagli, Dorina, Sarı, Nuran, Akhan, Sıla, Arslan, Sonay, Doğan Öntaş, İrem Asena, Yılmaz, Gürdal, Aksoy, Firdevs, Kant, Aydın, Yaşar, Kadriye Kart, Ünlü, Esra Canbolat, Akıllı, Işıl Kibar, Çelen, Mustafa Kemal, Mermutluoğlu, Çiğdem, Dayan, Saim, Kara, Emre, Durhan, Gamze, Ünal, Serhat, Demirkol, Barış, Arafat, Levent, Çetinkaya, Erdoğan, Çörtük, Mustafa, Durmuş Koçak, Nagihan, Parmaksız, Elif Torun, İnkaya, Ahmet Çağkan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland S. Karger AG 2025; Karger Publishers
• Subjects: Administration, Inhalation; Adult; Aged; Clinical trials; COVID-19; COVID-19 Drug Treatment; Double-Blind Method; Drug dosages; Dyspnea; Female; Hospitalization; Humans; Infections; Intensive care; Male; Medical imaging; Middle Aged; Patients; Peptides; Performance evaluation; Pneumonia; Prospective Studies; Regulatory approval; Respiratory failure; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Standard of care; Vital signs; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Aviptadil; Inhalation; Lung injury
• ISSN: 1011-7571; 1423-0151; 1423-0151
• DOI: 10.1159/000543773

Objective: We are still in search of new therapeutic options for COVID-19 to prevent new infections, enable fast recovery, and reduce the long-lasting symptoms or sequelae. This study aimed to investigate the short- and long-term effects of inhaled aviptadil on hospitalized, adult COVID-19 patients. Methods: A multicenter, prospective, placebo-controlled, comparative, randomized, double-blind clinical trial was conducted. Patients were randomized 1:1 to either inhaled aviptadil or placebo, in addition to the standard care. The primary endpoint is the time from hospitalization to discharge within 30 days of treatment. The secondary endpoints are clinical and radiological score improvements. Results: The study involved 80 patients enrolled from 9 clinical centers. The mean age was 55.8 ± 18.5 years, and 27 of them (33.8%) were female. The average time to discharge was 7.8 ± 4.0 days in aviptadil group and 10 ± 5.0 days in placebo (p = 0.049). Modified Borg scales were not statistically different on day 3 (p = 0.090), but significantly lower in the aviptadil group on day 7 (p = 0.033). The CT lung damage score was not different on day 1 for both groups (p = 0.962); improvement on day 28 was significantly greater in the aviptadil group (p = 0.028). The death rate was also lower in the aviptadil group (5.1%) when compared to the placebo (12.2%). There was no drop-out due to side effects. Conclusion: Study shows that inhaled aviptadil is well tolerated and can be used as a supplementary intervention to fasten the recovery of respiratory manifestations in hospitalized patients for COVID-19 pneumonia.