It conducted a small, double-blind trial on patients hospitalized with Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, in nine British hospitals. But the significance of the findings was seriously limited — and, in the view of some scientists, undercut — by the small size of the trial. It involved only 101 patients, Synairgen said, making it difficult to know for certain how beneficial the drug was or how it affected patients differently. That raised concerns among scientists that the company had analyzed the results earlier than it should have, once the treatment appeared to be effective. Scientists also noted that while injectable interferon has historically been used to treat hepatitis infections, the inhaled form of treatment was not yet licensed or widely available.

Source: New York Times July 20, 2020 16:06 UTC