We can treat COVID.

Help find early treatments that are effective and may prevent long COVID.

About

While public health measures and vaccines have reduced the spread of SARS-CoV-2, most scientists predict this virus will become endemic and new variants will continue to emerge. As a result, effective and affordable medications in community settings are needed.

Adaptive platform trials (APTs) are designed to compare multiple therapies and study new medications as they emerge. CanTreatCOVID will evaluate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of oral medications for SARS-CoV-2 in non-hospitalized patients. In collaboration with patient and community partners we will engage diverse populations. Therapeutics to be investigated will be decided through a transparent Canadian COVID-19 Therapeutics Advisory Panel. CanTreatCOVID will closely work with adaptive platform trials in the United Kingdom and European Union to enable the federation of our trial data to support faster and more powerful statistical analyses.

We will measure the drug efficacy by comparing hospitalization and death at 28 days, as well as time to recovery and impact on “long COVID”. We will also assess changes in quality of life and health resource utilization to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of each therapeutic.

We will use numerous approaches to recruit, including a multi-faceted public communication strategy and outreach through primary care, out-patient clinics, and emergency departments. A unique strength is additional prospective recruitment using Electronic Medical Record (EMR) data from primary care research networks in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, BC, Manitoba, and Newfoundland. CanTreat COVID will result in a national APT infrastructure with applications beyond the COVID19 pandemic, building capacity to efficiently study therapeutics for influenza, other upper respiratory conditions, and other emerging diseases.

Impact

Our findings will address some urgent public health needs and questions:

• The results of this study will help Canada and other countries in deciding whether nirmatrelvir/ritonavir is a good investment compared to fluvoxamine, and add to our current knowledge on therapeutics during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings will directly influence standards of care for SARS-CoV-2 infection in community settings in Canada and around the world.
• Our national APT infrastructure will be established to evaluate the effectiveness, safety, and cost-effectiveness of new therapeutics.
• Beyond SARS-CoV-2, the APT infrastructure can be adapted to study therapeutics for influenza and other upper respiratory pathogens, and for other diseases in the future.

Team Members

• Andrew Pinto (Principal Investigator & Director of Upstream Lab)
• Lisa Barrett MD, PhD, FRCPC (Knowledge User)
• Yves Couturier MD (Knowledge User)
• Yoav Keynan MD, PhD (Knowledge User)
• Jolanta Piszczek BSc Pharm, Pharm D, MSc (EMB) (Knowledge User)
• Fahad Razak MD, MSc, FRCPC (Knowledge User)
• Rosana Salvaterra MD, CCFP, MSc, FRCPC (Knowledge User)
• Cathy Scrimshaw MD, CCFP, FCFP (Knowledge User)
• Daniel Warshafsky MD, MPH, CCFP (SEM), Dip Sport Med, FRCPC (Knowledge User)
• Amanda Condon MD, CCFP, FCFP (Co-Principal Investigator)
• Bruno da Costa PhD, MScPT, BScPT, MScMedStat (Co-Principal Investigator)
• Peter Daley MD, MSc, FRCPC, DTM+H (Co-Principal Investigator)
• Michelle Greiver MD, MSc, CCFP, FCFP (Co-Principal Investigator)
• Corinne Hohl FRCPC, CCFP, MHSc, MDCM, B.S. (Co-Principal Investigator)
• Peter Jüni MD, FESC (Co-Principal Investigator)
• Todd Lee MD, MPH, FIDSA (Co-Principal Investigator)
• Kerry McBrien MD, MPH, CCFP (Co-Principal Investigator)
• Emily McDonald MD, MSc, FRCPC (Co-Principal Investigator)
• Srinivas Murthy MD, MHSc (Co-Principal Investigator)
• Peter Selby MBBS, CCFP, FCFP, MHSc, dipABAM, DFASAM (Co-Principal Investigator)
• Melissa Andrew MD, MSc Public Health, PhD, FRCPC (Co-Investigator)
• Kris Aubrey-Bassler MD, CCFP(EM) (Co-Investigator)
• David Barber MD, BSc, CCFP (Co-Investigator)
• Brendan Barrett MB, MSc, FRCPC (Co-Investigator)
• Mylaine Breton PhD (Co-Investigator)
• Chris Butler MD, BA, MBChB, DCH, CCH, FRCGP, (Hon) FFPH FMedSci (Co-Investigator)
• Simone Dahrouge PhD, MSc (Co-Investigator)
• Robert Fowler MDCM, FRCP, MSc (Co-Investigator)
• Stephanie Garies(Co-Investigator)
• Mathew Grandy BSc (Kin), MD, CCFP (Co-Investigator)
• Catherine Hudon MD (Co-Investigator)
• Jennifer Isenor BScn (Pharm) (Dalhousie), PharmD (UBC) (Co-Investigator)
• Noah Ivers MD, PhD, CCFP (Co-Investigator)
• David Jenkins OC, MD, FRSC, FRCP, FRCPC, PhD, DSc (Co-Investigator)
• Alan Katz MBChB, MSc, CCFP (Co-Investigator)
• Annie LeBlanc PhD (Co-Investigator)
• Christine Leong BSc, BSc (Pharm), PharmD (Co-Investigator)
• Paul Little CBE, MBBS, BA, MD, DLSHTM, MRCP, FRCGP, FMedSci (Co-Investigator)
• Sarvesh Logsetty MD, FRCS(C) FACS (Co-Investigator)
• Sylvain Lother MD, FRCPC, DTMH (Co-Investigator)
• Marie-Thérèse Lussier MD, MSc, FCFP (Co-Investigator)
• Derelie Mangin MBChB, DPH, FRNZCGP (Co-Investigator)
• Emily Marshall PhD, MSc, BA (Co-Investigator)
• John Marshall MD, FRCSC, FACS, FCAHS (Co-Investigator)
• Rita McCracken MD, PhD, CCFP (COE), FCFP (Co-Investigator)
• Rahim Moineddin PhD (Co-Investigator)
• Andrew Morris MD, SM, FRCPC (Co-Investigator)
• Aaron Orkin MD, MSc, MPH, PhD (Co-Investigator)
• Jean-Sebastien Paquette MD, MSc, CMFC (Co-Investigator)
• Jay Park (Co-Investigator)
• Navindra Persaud MD, MSc, BA, BSc (Co-Investigator)
• Valeria Rac MD, PhD (Co-Investigator)
• Vivian Ramsden PhD, RN, BSN, MCFP (Hon.) (Co-Investigator)
• Jennifer Rayner PhD (Co-Investigator)
• Ginetta Salvalaggio MD, MSc, CCFP (AM) (Co-Investigator)
• Diana Sanchez- Ramirez PhD, MPH, PT (Co-Investigator)
• Lynora Saxinger CTropMed, MD, FRCPC (Co-Investigator)
• Haolun Shi PhD (Statistics, University of Hong Kong) (Co-Investigator)
• Alexander Singer MB BO BCh., CCFP (Co-Investigator)
• Rae Spiwak (Co-Investigator)
• Jean Éric Tarride MA, PhD (Economics) (Co-Investigator)
• Ross Upshur BA (Hons), MA, MDm MSc (Co-Investigator)
• Sabrina Wong PhD, RN (Co-Investigator)
• Biranne Wood PhD (Co-Investigator)
• Ryan Zarychanski MD, MSC, FRCPC (Co-Investigator)
• Barbara Zelek MD (Co-Investigator)

Advisory Members

• Anthony Hanley PhD (Collaborator)
• Jordan Stone-McLean BSc, MD, CCFP(EM) (Collaborator)
• Jane Cooney(Collaborator/Patient Partner)
• John Gannon (Collaborator/Patient Partner)
• Marjeiry Robinson(Collaborator/Patient Partner)
• Margo Twohig (Collaborator/Patient Partner)

Contact Information

• upstreamlab@smh.ca