Meplazumab treats COVID-19 pneumonia: an open-labelled, concurrent controlled add-on clinical trial

BackgroundSARS-CoV-2 is a novel human coronavirus, there is no specific antiviral drugs. It has been proved that host-cell-expressed CD147 could bind spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 and involve in host cell invasion. Antibody against CD147 could block the infection of SARS-CoV-2. We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of meplazumab, a humanized anti-CD147 antibody, as add-on therapy in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. MethodsAll patients received recommended strategy from Diagnosis and Treatment for 2019 Novel Coronavirus Diseases released by National Health Commission of China. Eligible patients were add-on administered 10 mg meplazumab intravenously at days 1, 2, and 5. Patients hospitalized in the same period were observed as concurrent control. The endpoints include virological clearance rate, case severity, chest radiographic, and laboratory test. This trial was approved by the Ethics Committee of Institution at the Tangdu hospital, and registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT 04275245. Findings17 patients were enrolled and assigned to meplazumab group between Feb 3, 2020 and Feb 10, 2020. 11 hospitalized patients served as concurrent control. Baseline characteristics were generally balanced across two groups. Compared to control group, meplazumab treatment significantly improved the discharged (p=0.006) and case severity (p=0.021) in critical and severe patients. The time to virus negative in meplazumab group was reduced than that in control group (median 3, 95%CI[1.5-4.5] vs. 13, [6.5-19.5]; p=0.014, HR=0.37, 95%CI[0.155-0.833]). The percentages of patients recovered to the normal lymphocyte count and CRP concentration were also increased remarkably and rapidly in meplazumab group. No adverse effect was found in meplazumab-treated patients. InterpretationMeplazumab efficiently improved the recovery of patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia with a favorable safety profile. Our results support to carry out a large-scale investigation of meplazumab as a treatment for COVID-19 pneumonia. FundingNational Science and Technology Major Project.