Calquence shows promise in hospitalized COVID-19 patients

As researchers around the world scramble to repurpose existing drugs to find a solution to the current coronavirus pandemic, Calquence (acalabrutinib), a Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor currently approved for certain hematological malignancies, was seen to reduce markers of inflammation and improved clinical outcomes of patients with severe COVID-19 disease, according to a study published in Science Immunology.

The peer-reviewed case series of 19 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 disease and severe hypoxia and/or inflammation is a collaboration from investigators across the USA, including AstraZeneca LSE: AZN) scientists, and led by Dr Wyndham Wilson, and Dr Louis Staudt, at the US National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

AstraZeneca first announced in April that it had designed a trial based on “strong scientific evidence supporting the role of the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) pathway in the production of inflammatory cytokines and on encouraging early clinical data.”