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Dallas Study Hopes To Find New Treatments For COVID-19

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - UT Southwestern is participating in a Dallas study aimed at finding new treatments for COVID-19.

The ACTIV-2 Outpatient Monoclonal Antibodies and Other Therapies Trial is led by the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) and includes both phase 2 and phase 3 evaluations of multiple promising drugs for treating early COVID-19. The drugs will be tested against placebo to determine how safe and effective they are.

"The goal of ACTIV-2 is to identify treatments that can keep people who acquire COVID-19 from getting sick and requiring hospitalization," said Mamta Jain, MD, Professor of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern. "People living in North Texas who have recently been diagnosed with COVID-19 and are not hospitalized have the opportunity to make a huge contribution by participating in this study."

In addition to study the efficacy and safety of these potential treatments, ACTIV-2 also aims to determine whether they are able decrease the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

"While effective vaccines are essential to prevent COVID-19, treatments will continue to play a vital role as we seek to end the pandemic, especially as we continue to see that a significant portion of the population remains unvaccinated," said ACTG Chair Judith Currier, M.D., M.Sc., University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

"While cases of and deaths related to COVID-19 are thankfully currently decreasing, it remains crucial to safe and effective therapeutics that prevent severe disease. The ACTG aims to advance as many successful therapeutics as we can, making the treatment of COVID-19 simple and accessible."

To qualify for the ACTIV-2 study, participants must have tested positive for COVID-19 in the outpatient setting within 10 days and started experiencing symptoms within eight days of enrolling. For more information, interested individuals can visit the study website, www.actgnetwork.org, or https://clinicaltrials.gov/.

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