Umifenovir in COVID-19 therapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT

SARS-CoV-2 has infected more than 600 million people worldwide over the last 2.5 years. So far, there efficacy of many antiviral drugs against COVID-19 has been evaluated only in small studies conducted in different countries. Objective. To assess the efficacy of umifenovir in patients with COVID-19. Materials and methods. We performed systematic search of publications in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases. Sixteen studies with a total of 1,843 patients were included in the analysis. The following endpoints were evaluated frequencies of negative PCR test on days 7 and 14;mortality in patients with mild, moderate, and severe disease;and frequency of fever resolution on day 7. Results. We found that patients receiving umifenovir demonstrated a significantly higher frequency of negative PCR test on day 7 than patients who received no causal therapy or other antiviral drugs (odds ratio (OR) 1.69, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09-2.62, p = 0.02, I2 = 13%). This difference was even more significant among patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 (OR 2.03, 95% CI 1.24-3.32, p = 0.005, I2 = 0%), as well as on day 14 (OR 2.02, 95% CI 1.35-3.94, p = 0.0007, I2 = 50%). We also observed a reduced risk of death in the studies that included only patients with mild and moderate disease (JR 0.53, 95% CI 0.33-0.83, p = 0.006, I2 = 0). Umifenovir therapy did not affect the frequency of fever resolution by day 7 (OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.49-1.56, p = 0.64, I2 = 0%). Conclusion. Umifenovir significantly accelerated virus elimination by days 7 and 14 among patients with mild to moderate COVID-19. Umifenovir also reduced the risk of death compared to other antiviral drugs.Copyright © 2022, Dynasty Publishing House. All rights reserved.