Rise Above COVID is a movement to find medicines for COVID-19 through the ACTIV-2 Study, a study for people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 6 days. David Wohl, MD, is vice-chair of ACTIV-2, which is sponsored by the NIH with UNC CFAR researchers Joseph Eron, MD, and William Fischer, MD, as co-investigators. CFAR investigators are deeply involved in UNC’s COVID-19 response.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently authorized the emergency use of bamlanivimab, a monoclonal antibody developed by Eli Lilly to treat mild to moderate COVID-19.
“Bamlanivimab is one of the drugs that Wohl and a team of researchers are studying through the ACTIV-2 clinical trial. The trial is enrolling at over 60 U.S. sites and will soon expand globally, including Brazil, Peru, and South Africa. Begun in September, ACTIV-2 is now studying 300 participants, including 30 at UNC. Throughout the long-running study, investigators will add and remove promising treatments as they become available. The goal is to develop a treatment that prevents the virus from developing into a severe illness requiring hospitalization.