{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,20]],"date-time":"2026-01-20T00:13:46Z","timestamp":1768868026278,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,19]],"date-time":"2023-10-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1697673600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Med."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>In 2019, a highly pathogenic coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) surfaced and resulted in the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). With the aim of finding effective drugs to fight against the disease, several trials have been conducted since COVID-19 can only be considered a treatable disease, from a clinical point of view, after the availability of specific and effective antivirals. AZVUDINE (FNC), initially developed for treating HIV, is a potential treatment for COVID-19 as it has the capability to lower the patient\u2019s viral load and promote recovery.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Volunteers infected with SARS-CoV-2 confirmed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), with good kidney and liver function, who were not using other antivirals or monoclonal antibodies were eligible. Samples from patients were assessed for viral load every 48\u2009h during treatment using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The study\u2019s primary outcome measure was the percentage of participants showing an improvement in clinical scores, while the secondary outcome measure was the percentage of participants with a clinical outcome of cure. These measures were used to assess the safety and efficacy of FNC for treating COVID-19. In the analysis of sociodemographic variables, no significant differences were detected between patients in the FNC and the placebo group for race, age group, or sex. The results showed a potential benefit to participants who received FNC during the study, as observed in the shorter hospital stay, shorter negative conversion time of SARS-CoV-2, and a significant reduction in viral load. Furthermore, the reduction in fever and chills were significant at D1, D2, and D3. In this study, a total of 112 adverse events cases were noted, with 105 cases being categorized as non-serious and only 7 cases as serious adverse events.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The pandemic is not being effectively controlled and is causing multiple waves of infection that require extensive medical resources. However, FNC has demonstrated potential to reduce the treatment duration of moderate COVID-19 cases, thereby saving significant medical resources. This makes FNC a promising candidate for COVID-19 treatment.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Clinical trial registration<\/jats:bold>: [<jats:ext-link>clinicaltrials.gov<\/jats:ext-link>], identifier [NCT04668235].<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2023.1215916","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,19]],"date-time":"2023-10-19T07:09:43Z","timestamp":1697699383000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":25,"title":["Phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study: a study on the safety and clinical efficacy of AZVUDINE in moderate COVID-19 patients"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"S\u00e1vio Bastos","family":"de Souza","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Paula Gebe Abreu","family":"Cabral","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Renato Martins","family":"da Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Raul Ferraz","family":"Arruda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sheila Passos de Figueiredo","family":"Cabral","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ar\u00edcia Leone Evangelista Monteiro","family":"de Assis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ant\u00f4nio Brazil","family":"Viana Junior","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wim Maurits Sylvain","family":"Degrave","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Aline dos Santos","family":"Moreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Cl\u00e9ber Gl\u00f3ria","family":"Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Junbiao","family":"Chang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pingsheng","family":"Lei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"727","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa2001017","article-title":"A novel coronavirus from patients with pneumonia in China, 2019","volume":"382","author":"Zhu","year":"2020","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"706","DOI":"10.1093\/cid\/ciaa199","article-title":"Clinical characteristics of imported cases of COVID- 19 in Jiangsu Province: a multicenter descriptive study","volume":"71","author":"Wu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Clin Infect Dis"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"538","DOI":"10.1002\/jmv.25721","article-title":"Combination of RT-qPCR testing and clinical features for diagnosis of COVID-19 facilitates management of SARS-CoV-2 outbreak","volume":"92","author":"Wang","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Med Virol"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"999","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scib.2022.02.011","article-title":"COVID-19 can be called a treatable disease only after we have antivirals","volume":"67","author":"Zhang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sci. 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