BayCare Conducts Several Clinical Trials to Provide Access to COVID-19 Treatments

BayCare is joining leading researchers around the world to help find a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19.  

Top clinicians and team members across the BayCare system are taking part in various clinical trials to help provide patients access to potential COVID-19 treatments and cures. 

This clinical research work is part of BayCare’s effort to provide effective and high-quality care to its patients in West Central Florida.

“Like other health systems around the world, BayCare is poised to participate in scientifically-sound clinical trials to find a potential treatment for coronavirus,” said Nishant Anand, MD, chief medical officer for BayCare. “We believe continued research efforts can help us shed light into many unanswered questions around COVID-19.” 

BayCare’s Clinical Research team is supporting clinician investigators as they launch several clinical trials focused on testing, treatment and vaccination to help provide local access to treatment options to help fight COVID-19. Some of the clinical trials already in progress include: 

• A randomized clinical trial focused on the off-label use of Sarilumab drug to determine its effects on respiratory distress caused by COVID-19 in critically ill patients. 
• Partnering with Mayo Clinic under their expanded access protocol to provide COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) donated by those who have recovered from COVID-19 to use as a treatment option for those fighting the disease. The CCP is an experimental treatment that was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be used on an emergency basis to help people with life-threatening coronavirus infections.
• Providing compassionate use of Remdesivir and other investigational drugs for the treatment of coronavirus infections in vulnerable populations. 
• Studying the performance and efficacy of nasalpharyngeal versus nasal swabs to help detect COVID-19 for BayCare outpatient and in-patient populations. 

In addition, BayCare is working to build its own internal registry, and is participating in regional, national and international registries to collect biomarkers and clinical data to compare treatment and patterns of care with clinical outcomes. This information is critical in helping guide the development of effective care guidelines and additional interventional trials as more is understood about the disease. New protocols provided by industry and academic partners are being reviewed daily by BayCare’s clinical investigators and carefully selected based on the most recent research published in peer-reviewed publications.  

BayCare Laboratories has been working with OneBlood to collect plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients so there is a sufficient local supply of COVID-19 CCP available. Dozens of BayCare patients have received this treatment so far. For more information, potential donors can contact OneBlood at 1-888-936-6283 and select option 9 or visit their website here.