Osler physician lead author in COVID-19 research published in New England Journal of Medicine

When it comes to COVID-19, Dr. Anil Gupta, an Osler family medicine physician, has always wanted to be part of the solution.

That’s why he and members of his busy family practice in Etobicoke stepped up to support nursing homes on outbreak at the very start of the pandemic. It’s why they opened their clinic after hours to assess for respiratory illness and perform swabs before testing and vaccines were widely available. And it is why, in October 2020, at the height of the second wave, he and his team agreed to participate in a trial looking at an early treatment for COVID-19. “There really was a desire by the whole team to be part of the solution,” he said.

Interim results of the COVID-19 study

On November 18, 2021, the interim results of that study were published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, with Dr. Gupta as the lead author.

The purpose of the trial was to test the effectiveness of a treatment designed to prevent the progression of COVID-19 in high-risk patients early in the course of the disease. This is significant because we know that COVID-19 disproportionately results in hospitalization or death in older patients and those with underlying conditions. The treatment, called Sotrovimab, is a monoclonal antibody, a lab-made version of a protein your body would typically make to fight off the virus and is given as an injection.

The trial included 583 patients – 291 in the Sotrovimab group and 292 in the control (placebo) group who received the inactive medication. Among the patients who were given Sotrovimab, interim analysis showed an 85 per cent reduction in hospitalization or death, explained Dr. Gupta. “Nobody who got the active drug died or went to the ICU.” In the placebo group, however, five patients were admitted to the ICU with one death. The trial was able to conclude that among high-risk patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, Sotrovimab reduced the risk of disease progression with no identified safety issues.

Reducing hospitalization and death

Dr. Gupta also explained that with variants of concerns like the omicron appearing, treatments like this one become even more important to help reduce hospitalization and death from COVID-19. “Vaccination, however, still remains our most effective defence against the spread and serious adverse events of COVID-19,” he added. “Responding to COVID-19 will require many different treatments and approaches.”

Dr. Gupta, who is also a member of Osler’s Community Medical Advisory Council, said Osler helped find patients for the study and that he and two other physicians from Ontario Health and his invaluable study coordinator, Amisha Gandhi, led the Canadian arm of the trial, which also involved the United States, Brazil, and Spain.

Although he’s no stranger to research (his resume includes numerous phase 2 and 3 clinical trials looking at, among other things, H1N1 and Vitamin B-12 deficiency in South Asians) he is particularly proud to be part of this trial. “It shows that the average family doctor can contribute to this kind of research. That you don’t necessarily have to be a specialist.”