MINNEAPOLIS — COVID-19 patients were less likely to die or need hospital care if they took the common anti-diabetes drug metformin, according to a long-awaited University of Minnesota study, but not if they took ivermectin.
The results of the ambitious remote clinical trial could steer doctors toward off-label use of one cheap and available drug for the treatment of COVID-19 — just not the one that has drawn the most public attention. Results were presented in a national online lecture on Friday ahead of publication in a medical journal.
"It does appear that metformin substantially reduces the risk of (emergency department) visits, hospitalization or death from COVID-19, and that reduction is significant," said Dr. Carolyn Bramante, the leader of the U's COVID-OUT trial, in an interview. The study also examined whether the antidepressant fluvoxamine offered any benefit.
