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Event date and time: Wednesday 7 April 2021, 09.00 - 10.00 BST.

The Randomised Evaluation of COVid-19 thERapY (RECOVERY) trial was officially launched on 23 March 2020.

Thanks to the ground-breaking work of RECOVERY, clinicians treating patients hospitalised with severe COVID-19 now have two treatments that are known to improve survival. From having no known effective drugs when the pandemic first erupted, patients are now offered treatments that have been robustly proven to reduce death and improve other outcomes, such as the length of hospital stay and the need for mechanical ventilation. In a special webinar to mark the one-year anniversary of the trial, the public are invited to hear directly from those who made it happen, including the co-Chief Investigators leading the trial, a hospital clinician and a trial participant.

WEBINAR FORMAT

  • Peter Horby, Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Nuffield Department of Medicine, and co-Chief Investigator for the RECOVERY Trial: Where we came from and what experience we already had from previous pandemics
  • Martin Landray, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Nuffield Department of Population Health, and co-Chief Investigator for the RECOVERY Trial: How to run large clinical trials in the UK and the value of working with the NHS
  • Dr Raha West, Principal Investigator, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust: How the trial happens in the life of a NHS doctor
  • Kimberley FeatherstoneWhat it means to participate in the trial as a patient with COVID-19
  • Professor Raph Hamers, Manager of the Universities of Indonesia and Oxford Clinical Research Laboratory, and Dr Erni Nelwan, Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia: The challenges of expanding the RECOVERY Trial to Indonesia
  • Audience Q&A

This event offers a unique ‘behind-the-scenes’ view of the world’s largest clinical trial investigating COVID-19 treatments. The trial’s Chief Investigators will describe how key features of RECOVERY’s design were crucial to its success, which ultimately led to the first breakthrough in the COVID-19 response within only three months – the finding that the cheap steroid dexamethasone saves the lives of hospitalised patients. Within its first year, RECOVERY also identified another beneficial treatment, the anti-inflammatory drug tocilizumab, besides ruling out four candidate therapies. The trial continues to investigate a range of treatments, and recently launched RECOVERY International, to evaluate COVID-19 therapies that may be suitable for low-resource countries.

‘The RECOVERY trial is, quite simply, an extraordinary endeavour. In one year, it has recruited almost 40,000 patients and investigated 10 treatments. It has been remarkable to see so many people supporting it, from the scientists and clinical researchers, to the patients themselves when at a very frightening time of their lives. I feel privileged to be part of it, humbled by the contribution of all involved, and proud of what this amazing trial has achieved. It really has put randomised trials at the heart of high-quality healthcare – for COVID-19 and beyond.’ Professor Martin Landray.

Although the trial is large-scale in nature, its impacts are experienced on an individual level, as families are reunited with loved ones. During the webinar, patient Kimberley Featherstone will describe her experience as a RECOVERY trial participant.

‘Being given the opportunity to participate in the RECOVERY trial was very humbling, knowing that the information they were collecting had a direct impact on the treatment of patients, and signing on was something I did gladly.' Kimberley Featherstone, RECOVERY trial participant.