OBJECTIVES

: To analyze the clinical studies for the pharmacological treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) conducted in China.

METHODS

: Clinical studies for the pharmacological treatment of COVID-19 registered on the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (CHICTR) between January 1^st, 2020 and March 21^st, 2020 were retrieved with supplementary searches for published results through CNKI, MEDLINE, WHO Database, MedRxiv and BioRxiv preprint platforms. Trial ID, enrolment date, recruitment status, study design, population, sample size, intervention/exposure, control/reference, dosage, and primary outcomes were extracted. Descriptive analyses for clinical trials and observational studies were conducted, respectively. Published main results were summarized as appropriate.

RESULTS

: Of 482 COVID-19 related studies registered on the CHICTR, 176 clinical studies for the pharmacological treatment of COVID-19 were included: 170 clinical trials investigating antivirus agents (n=20), biologics (n=19), antiparasitic agents (n=16), cell-based therapies (n=11), plasma therapies (n=11), anti-inflammatory agents (n=6), other therapies (n=7), combination therapies of different mechanisms of action (n=11), Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs, n=15) and a combination of TCMs and western medicines (n=54); and 6 observational studies investigating cell-based therapy (n=1) and antivirus agents plus biologics (n=1), TCMs (n=2) and a combination of TCMs and western medicines (n=2). A total of 24,500 patients were exposed, ranging from 10 to 1,000 patients in clinical trials and from 20 to 237 patients in observational studies. Time to RT-PCR negativity (n=19) and chest CT (n=16) were the most reported primary outcomes. Published results (n=26) were identified in 8 clinical trials investigating antivirus agents (n=4), antiparasitic agents (n=2), and a combination of TCMs and western medicines (n=2) and 18 observational studies investigating antivirus agents (n=9), TCM (n=6), a combination of TCMs and western medicines (n=3).

CONCLUSIONS

: China is generating a massive source of evidence that is critical for defeating the COVID-19 pandemic, which should be shared with the global scientific community.