Background: We aimed to evaluate icatibant, a competitive antagonist of the bradykinin B2 receptors, for the treatment of inpatients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia admitted in the early hypoxemic stage.
Methods: The randomized, open-label clinical trial of icatibant for COVID-19 pneumonia (ICAT·COVID, registered as NCT04978051 at ClinicalTrials.gov) was conducted in Barcelona. Inpatients requiring supplemental but not high-flow oxygen or mechanical ventilation were allocated (1:1) to treatment with either three 30-mg icatibant doses/d for 3 consecutive days plus standard care or standard care alone, and followed for up to 28 days after initial discharge. The primary and key secondary outcomes were clinical response on study day 10/discharge and clinical efficacy at 28 days from initial discharge, respectively.
Results: Clinical response occurred in 27 of 37 patients (73.0%) in the icatibant group and 20 of 36 patients (55.6%) in the control group (rate difference, 17.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], -4.22 to 39.06; P = .115). Clinical efficacy ensued in 37 patients (100.0%) in the icatibant group and 30 patients (83.3%) in the control group (rate difference, 16.67; 95% CI, 4.49-28.84; P = .011). No patient died in the icatibant group, compared with 6 patients (16.7%) in the control group (P = .011). All patients but 1 had adverse events, which were evenly distributed between study arms. No patient withdrew because of adverse events.
Conclusions: Adding icatibant to standard care was safe and improved both COVID-19 pneumonia and mortality in this proof-of-concept study. A larger, phase 3 trial is warranted to establish the clinical value of this treatment.
Clinical trials registration: NCT04978051.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; bradykinin; coronavirus infections; inflammation; pandemics.
© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America.