aerial view of medical buildings

COVID-19 Research

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, UCSF Fresno and Community Regional Medical Center (CRMC) emerged as the region’s leading health care alliance to address the challenges of COVID-19. UCSF Fresno has participated in and continues to participate in many National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded and industry-sponsored clinical trials that give Central California patients access to state-of-the-art treatments.

In many COVID-19 clinical trials, UCSF Fresno took a leading role and was the first center in the world to enroll patients in some multicenter trials. UCSF Fresno was selected as a “Vanguard site” for a trial which is testing a new treatment for advanced COVID disease. A “Vanguard site” is a site that is identified to enroll the first patients to pilot enrollment and modify the trial to suit additional sites. UCSF Fresno is committed to finding new clinical trials every day to advance therapy for COVID infection.

 

closeup of vials being put in a container
close-up of vial being placed in testing equipment
cols-2

In addition, research at UCSF Fresno on the safety and efficacy of adipose-derived stem cells as a potential treatment for COVID-19 in patients who have serious lung damage has shown promise and has prompted further study internationally as well as at UCSF Fresno.

For more information about specific trials, please contact the corresponding research coordinator or assistant coordinator listed below.

Active Clinical Trials for COVID-19 Infection

Title: Strategies and Treatments for Respiratory Infections & Viral Emergencies (STRIVE)

Sponsor: International Network for Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials (INSIGHT)

Brief Summary: The aims to provide an agile research platform able to investigate strategies and treatments that may improve the health of patients hospitalized with a respiratory infection. The master protocol defines the scientific and operational framework of trials implemented as part of the platform. The specific design and conduct of each trial are described in trial-specific appendices. This approach is intended to pre-position infrastructure and to facilitate rapid and flexible response with high standards of scientific rigor to support the development of consensus for standard of care.

Trial 1: COVID-19 treatment study is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of S-217622, an anti-SARS-CoV-2 3C-like protease inhibitor developed by Shionogi & Co. Ltd, when given in addition to standard of care in patients hospitalized for medical management of COVID-19

Trial 2: COVID-19 treatment study is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of adding a second immune modulator abatacept on top of a baseline therapy of a single immune modulator in participants hospitalized with COVID-19 and on conventional supplementary oxygen

For information on enrolling patients in a clinical trial, please contact the research coordinator, Alyssa Hughes at [email protected].


Title:  PReventing Emerging infections through Vaccine EffectiveNess Testing—COVID (Project PREVENT II)

Sponsor:  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

For information on enrolling patients in a clinical trial, please contact the research coordinator Peter Poerzgen at  [email protected]


TITLE: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of EB05 + SOC vs. Placebo + SOC in Adult Hospitalized Patients With COVID-19

SPONSOR: Edesa Biotech Inc.

Brief Summary

COVID-19 patients who develop severe disease often develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) as a result of a dysregulated immune response. Targeting the initial step in the signaling pathways of dysregulated immune response is the best hope for controlling the exaggerated host response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. EB05 has demonstrated safety in two clinical studies (>120 patients) and was able to block LPS-induced (TLR4 agonist) IL-6 release in humans. Given this extensive body of evidence, EB05 could ameliorate ARDS due to COVID-19, significantly reducing ventilation rates and mortality.

For information on enrolling patients in a clinical trial, please contact the research coordinator Ashley Gutierrez at [email protected].