A Closer Look at the New Fluvoxamine Trial Data

Authors of a newly published study on the use of an antidepressant for COVID-19 claim the drug greatly reduces hospitalizations and mortality. But some experts question whether that’s really what the data show.

Written byCatherine Offord

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Update (December 16): The National Institutes of Health in updated COVID-19 treatment guidelines today states that “There is insufficient evidence for the [panel] to recommend either for or against the use of fluvoxamine for the treatment of COVID-19.” The agency lists a number of difficulties in interpreting the TOGETHER trial data, including differences in adherence between the treatment and placebo groups, a risk of bias associated with the per-protocol analysis, and an endpoint with unclear clinical relevance. Meanwhile, the STOP COVID 2 trial has “been stopped for futility by a data safety monitoring board after lower than expected case rates and treatment effect were observed,” according to the update.

A highly publicized new study of the antidepressant fluvoxamine as a potential COVID-19 treatment suggests that the drug could reduce hospitalizations among people with the disease, but has prompted calls for caution in interpreting the findings.

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Meet the Author

Catherine Offord
After undergraduate research with spiders at the University of Oxford and graduate research with ants at Princeton University, Catherine left arthropods and academia to become a science journalist. She has worked in various guises at The Scientist since 2016. As Senior Editor, she wrote articles for the online and print publications, and edited the magazine’s Notebook, Careers, and Bio Business sections. She reports on subjects ranging from cellular and molecular biology to research misconduct and science policy. Find more of her work at her website.
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