Potential treatment and prevention for COVID-19
While we’re still learning more about the pathology and impact of COVID-19, the Research Institute is actively involved with helping answer important questions and treating our patients diagnosed with the disease.
MultiCare physician researchers are fighting COVID-19 one patient, one study at a time.
When the coronavirus appeared in our communities, MultiCare researchers stepped up to ensure patients and providers at our hospitals had access to experimental drug treatments aimed at fighting COVID-19. Researchers also began designing new studies to gather necessary information to help inform on us how best to treat future patients.
- 34 Clinical trials (new experimental drug treatments) brought to MultiCare hospitals
- 22 Puget Sound Region
- 12 Inland Northwest
- 10+ Investigator-initiated studies designed by MultiCare researchers examining best practices to manage or treat patients with COVID-19
- Seven grants applied for and five grants won ($519k)
- 695 COVID-19 patients participating in research, as of end of September 2021
- 391 Puget Sound Region
- 304 Inland Northwest
- 32 Physician and PhD researchers working on COVID-19 research
- 30 study coordinators, research nurses, and research assistants dedicated to bringing the most relevant treatments and study opportunities to patients in our communities.
Researching treatment and vaccines for COVID-19
Treatment
Hundreds of drugs are in development and under review, with the goal of treating COVID-19, its various symptoms and other conditions impacted by the disease. Antiviral drugs, such as Remdesivir, aim to reduce the replication of the virus in patients. Other drugs seek to treat inflammation that may cause breathing and other conditions caused by the virus. Various additional trials are being developed and conducted to treat other conditions related to COVID-19.
Antivirals reduce the viruses’ ability to replicate. Antivirals are known to decrease the severity and duration of symptoms. One of the first antiviral agents to be studied in COVID-19 patients was Remdesivir. Remdesivir, developed by Gilead Sciences Inc., is an investigational broad-spectrum antiviral treatment. It was previously tested in humans with Ebola virus disease and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which are caused by other coronaviruses.
Few hospital systems are fortunate enough to have access to the drug trial, but Gilead Sciences, the biopharmaceutical company working to develop medicines for COVID-19, selected MultiCare due to MultiCare’s established Institute for Research and Innovation, headquartered in Tacoma, Washington.
“With MultiCare’s access to Remdisivir, research doesn’t just exist in academia but is taking place in the community,” says Dr. Vinay Malhotra, a physician and researcher with MultiCare’s Pulse Heart Institute and the MultiCare Institute for Research & Innovation and the principal investigator on the drug trial. “We are grateful to have this product here. If MultiCare didn’t have the research institute, our communities may not get access to these trials because the drug is in high demand.”
Vaccines
A vaccine stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies that make it seem as if a person had previously been exposed to the disease or virus. Vaccines are preventative treatments.