IDCRC Site Profile: Alabama Vaccine Research Clinic


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The Alabama Vaccine Research Clinic conducts clinical trials of candidate vaccines at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and is led by Paul Goepfert, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the UAB. The clinic served as an Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Consortium (IDCRC) site for all of the Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trials (ACTT) through UAB’s role in the IDCRC Leadership Group. Nathan Erdmann, MD, PhD is an assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at UAB and began as a co-investigator for the IDCRC site for ACTT 1 and 2, and then transitioned to site principal investigator for ACTT 3 and 4. The ACTT trials are sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and have four iterations.

“The ACTT platform has repeatedly conducted rigorous trials resulting directly in changes to clinical management. These developments have occurred despite the enormous complexity of rolling out a trial during a pandemic on a very short timeline. At our institution alone, we have now treated multiple hundreds of patients based specifically on the results from the ACTT studies,” stated Erdmann.

The Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial 4 (ACTT 4) is a randomized, controlled clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of two treatment regimens consisting of the antiviral remdesivir and baricitinib, a modulator of inflammation, compared to remdesivir and the corticosteroid dexamethasone in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The study is enrolling approximately 1,500 hospitalized adults with COVID-19 who require supplemental oxygen at as many as 100 sites in the United States and abroad.

The Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial 3 (ACTT 3) was a randomized, controlled clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of a treatment regimen consisting of the antiviral remdesivir plus the immunomodulator interferon beta-1a in patients with COVID-19. The study enrolled approximately 1,000 hospitalized adults with COVID-19 on low-flow oxygen and those not requiring supplemental oxygen at as many as 100 sites in the U.S. and abroad. The Alabama Vaccine Research Clinic enrolled over three times the number of participants for this trial compared to ACTT 1 and 2.

“Having now enrolled nearly 100 participants, the number of times people have voiced their motivation to participate in an effort to help others, despite everything they are going through in that moment, has been really reassuring and rewarding,” says Erdmann. 

The Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial 2 (ACTT 2) was a randomized, controlled clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of a treatment regimen of the investigational antiviral remdesivir plus the anti-inflammatory drug baricitinib for COVID-19. Published Results

The Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial 1 (ACTT 1) found that hospitalized patients with advanced COVID-19 and lung involvement who received remdesivir recovered faster than similar patients who received placebo, according to data from a randomized, controlled trial involving 1,063 patients. Published Results

“It is great being involved in making a difference in the COVID pandemic. We have helped to develop two drugs so far! The ability to rapidly respond to the pandemic because of the existing infrastructure is one of the best strengths of the IDCRC,” said Goepfert.