Key clinical point: Canakinumab does not improve survival in hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19.
Major finding: There was no significant difference in survival without invasive mechanical ventilation between days 3 and 29 with canakinumab vs. placebo (88.8% vs. 85.7%; rate difference, 3.1 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], −3.1 to 9.3). COVID-19 mortality also did not differ with canakinumab vs. placebo (4.9% vs 7.2%; rate difference, −2.3 percentage points; 95% CI, −6.7 to 2.2).
Study details: The data come from the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 CAN-COVID trial (n=454).
Disclosures: The study was sponsored by Novartis Pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland. All authors received funding from Novartis during the conduct of the study. The authors also reported relationships with other pharmaceutical companies.
Source: Caricchio R et al. JAMA. 2021 Jul 20. doi: 10.1001/jama.2021.9508 .