A NEW study by researchers from Oxford University will investigate whether a drug used to treat inflammatory conditions can be used for coronavirus patients in the community, especially in care homes.

The trial of the anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) drug adalimumab will enrol up to 750 patients from community care settings throughout the UK and will be conducted by Oxford Clinical Trials Research Unit.

Anti-TNF drugs have been in widespread use for more than 20 years for a range of inflammatory conditions.

Researchers say recent studies have shown patients with Covid-19 already taking anti-TNF drugs for inflammatory bowel disease and inflammatory arthritis are less likely to be admitted to hospital.

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The same was not observed for patients taking other anti-inflammatory drugs.

Experts say availability of biosimilar versions of biological treatments has been an important step forward in driving down costs, making the anti-TNF treatment affordable and accessible if the trial is successful.

Duncan Richards, professor of clinical therapeutics at Oxford University, said: “The observed potential of anti-TNF drugs has prompted us to conduct a study in patients in community care to see whether treatment with the anti-TNF drug adalimumab reduces the progression to severe or critical disease or death in Covid-19 patients.

“We think anti-TNF drugs could be an important treatment for Covid-19 and are very grateful for the support of the Covid-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, which will allow us to find out.”

The researchers hope to start recruiting patients for the trial in late October.