CHENNAI: Clinical trials by the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) showed the efficacy of Indomethacin — a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug in treating hospitalised, mild and moderate cases of Covid-19. The findings were recently published in peerreviewed journal Nature Scientific Reports, said Dr Rajan Ravichandran, Principal Coordinator of the study, adjunct faculty at IIT-Madras and director nephrology at MIOT Hospitals.
The study was conducted at Panimalar Medical College and Research Institute and coordinated by IIT-Madras Professor R Krishna Kumar. Speaking to reporters Dr Ravichandran said, “Indomethacin works with all variants. We have done two trials, one in the first wave and the other in the second wave, when delta and other variants were dominant. It showed the same results.” He added,
“ICMR must take note of this study and include Indomethacin in Covid-19 treatment protocol. It is an affordable drug.” In the US, there are over 20 lakh prescriptions for Indomethacin a year, he explained. “This is proof the drug is safe. It has been used since the 1960s to treat types of inflammation,” he said. Dr Ravichandran said, as inflammation and cytokine storm are the reasons for mortality in Covid-19, Indomethacin was taken up for research. The study was conducted on 210 patients.
Around 107 were randomly allocated to a control group and treated with paracetamol and standard care of treatment. Around 103 patients were administered Indomethacin along with standard care of treatment, said the IIT-Madras Professor. None of the patients who received Indomethacin developed oxygen desaturation.
On the other hand, 20 patients from the control group saw oxygen saturation levels drop below 93%. “The Indomethacin group recovered from all symptoms within three to four days and saw no adverse reaction. It took double the time for the control group to recover,” said Krishna Kumar.
The 14th day follow-up showed nearly half of the control group had discomforts while few Indomethacin patients had tiredness, he explained. The study was funded by Kris Gopalakrishnan, an alumnus and Chairman Axilor Ventures.