Proof of Concept Study to Evaluate the Safety Profile of Plitidepsin in Patients With COVID-19

In December 2019, a new infectious respiratory disease emerged in Wuhan, China. The agent that caused this pneumonia was identified as a new virus in the Coronaviridae family (SARS-CoV-2) and the clinical symptomatology associated with the virus has been named COVID-19. COVID-19 is currently a public health emergency. Plitidepsin is an authorized drug in Australia for the treatment of multiple myeloma. Antiviral activity of plitidepsin has been analyzed in a human hepatoma cell line infected with the HCoV-229E-GFP virus, a virus similar to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Taking into account that the available safety data from plitidepsin comes from patients with solid tumors that received treatment with a regimen of administration of plitidepsin for 5 consecutive days, we propose a multicenter, randomized, proof-of-concept clinical trial to assess the safety profile of 3 different dose levels of plitidepsin administered three consecutive days, in adult patients with confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 who require hospital admission. This study aims to assess safety and toxicity profile and also preliminary efficacy of plitidepsin at each dose level administered according to the proposed administration scheme in patients with COVID-19 who require hospital admission. Main objective is to select the recommended dose levels of plitidepsin for a future phase II / III efficacy study.