Colchicine in the treatment of older patients with COVID-19

The combination of colchicine and prednisone administered early orally to elderly patients with COVID-19 requiring oxygen has shown a high level of efficacy as demonstrated by the FRAGILE-COLCOVID19 clinical trial conducted by the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona and recently published in the international journal Clinical Drug Investigation.

The study has shown that the combination of the anti-inflammatory colchicine and the corticosteroid prednisone represents a simple, safe and manageable treatment alternative that results in a significant reduction of COVID-19 mortality in elderly patients in geriatric facilities.

The phase II/III, comparative, randomised, randomised, controlled, multicentre, multicentre clinical trial in an elderly group of patients compared the combination of oral prednisone (60 mg/day for 3 continuous days) plus colchicine (in doses of 1/1.5 mg/day for 3 days, followed by 0.5 mg/day for 11 days) with standard treatment (intravenous dexamethasone).

The colchicine/prednisone combination was associated with a reduced need for glucocorticoids, shorter hospital stays and reduced levels of inflammatory biomarkers such as ferritin and D-dimer.

The FRAGILE-COLCOVID19 clinical trial concluded that oral colchicine and prednisone in older adults with COVID-19 (requiring oxygen therapy) reduced mortality or treatment failure by 28 days.

These drugs are safe, well tolerated and have been shown to be a potential first-line anti-infective agent in vulnerable patients.

For more information, see the following link: COLCHICINA SEID