Pharmaceutical company Sagent Pharmaceuticals disclosed on Friday that Camostat mesilate (Camostat) is one of four therapies included to the existing ACTIV-2 Adaptive Platform Treatment Trial for Outpatients with COVID-19 (Adapt Out COVID).

In May 2020, Adapt Out COVID was launched by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) under the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccine (ACTIV) partnership by Operation Warp Speed (OWS), the US government's multi-agency to accelerate the development, manufacturing and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and diagnostics.

The company added that the ACTIV-2 trial will continue to evaluate monoclonal antibodies and other small molecules for outpatient COVID treatment. Camostat is the first orally administered agent to be included in the outpatient Adapt Out COVID trial.

Under the Adapt Out COVID trial, the company will determine whether they are able to decrease viral shedding to potentially preventing transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Participants will take the first oral dose of Camostat at the enrollment visit and subsequent doses at home.

Currently, the company is conducting its multicentre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase II CAMELOT trial to evaluate the efficacy of Camostat to reduce the rate of hospitalization and viral shedding in ambulatory patients with COVID-19 with one or more risk factor for severe disease. Previous in vitro studies demonstrated that Camostat inhibits transmembrane protease serine 2 mediated activation of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein within the ACE2 receptor complex and blocks entry into host cells and viral replication.