Inhaled Fluticasone for Outpatient Treatment of Covid-19: A Decentralized, Placebo-controlled, Randomized, Platform Clinical Trial

The effectiveness of inhaled corticosteroids to shorten time to symptom resolution or prevent hospitalization or death among outpatients with mild-to-moderate coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) is unclear.

Methods

ACTIV-6 is an ongoing, decentralized, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled platform trial testing repurposed medications in outpatients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Non-hospitalized adults aged ≥30 years, experiencing ≥2 symptoms of acute infection for ≤7 days were randomized to inhaled fluticasone furoate 200 μg once daily for 14 days or placebo. The primary outcome was time to sustained recovery, defined as the third of 3 consecutive days without symptoms. Secondary outcomes included composites of hospitalization or death with or without urgent care or emergency department visit by day 28.

Results

Of those eligible for the fluticasone arm, 656 were randomized to and received inhaled fluticasone; 621 received concurrent placebo. There was no evidence of improvement in time to recovery with fluticasone compared with placebo (hazard ratio [HR] 1.01, 95% credible interval [CrI] 0.91–1.12; posterior probability for benefit [HR>1]=0.56). Twenty-four participants (3.7%) in the fluticasone arm had urgent care or emergency department visits or were hospitalized compared with 13 (2.1%) in the pooled, concurrent placebo arm (HR 1.9, 95% CrI 0.8–3.5; posterior probability for benefit [HR<1]=0.03). Three participants in each arm were hospitalized, and no deaths occurred. Adverse events were uncommon in both arms.

Conclusions

Treatment with inhaled fluticasone furoate for 14 days did not result in improved time to recovery among outpatients with Covid-19 in the United States during the delta and omicron variant surges.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT04885530 ).