Comparative Analysis of Drugs and Alternative Medicines Under Clinical Trials for COVID-19

Since its emergence in late 2019, novel Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a global threat that affected every aspect of our daily life. Its impacts were manifested not only on the health system, but also it extended to badly affect the social, educational, economical and many other fields of the human life. The measures set against the spread of this emergent virus, has restricted the human activities, mainly those that depend on the direct contact. Qatar, among GCC countries and MENA countries, was not far from the consequences of this virus, as it experienced three large waves of the outbreak. The medical society considered many approaches to fight against the widespread of this virus. Use of the traditional antiviral, anti-inflammatory and repositioning of many other drugs and alternative medicines that show effectiveness against COVID-19 was the core of the clinical studies and the medication protocols worldwide. In this project we investigated the drugs that are under different phase of clinical trials being held for the medication used against COVID-19 in the GCC countries. Based on these results from clinical trials some medication shown to be effective in this battle. Hence, they were considered to be part of the standard care, such as Remdesivir. Iloprost was declared to possibly enhance the respiratory status of COVID-19 patients, Colchicine can be beneficial if it is included in the protocol treatment. The confusion created about the role of ACE 2 Inhibitors and ARBs in COVID-19 prognosis has been cleared it has proven they do not badly affect the hypertensive COVID-19 patient who receive such medications. On the contrary, other medication was proven to be ineffective and their removal from the protocol was recommended, such as Azithromycin and Hydroxychloroquine. We also categorized the alternative medicines according to the leading reason of its use. We also showed that alternative medicines were also gained a lot of attention across the globe during this pandemic. Based on the outcomes from clinical trials, we found that dietary supplements such as Lactoferrin, and Probiotics (as SivoMixx) can play a role enhancing the immunity thus can be used as prophylactics against COVID-19 infection. Vitamin D was proven as an effective adjuvant treatment against COVID-19, while Vitamin C role is uncertain and needs more investigation. Herbals such as Guduchi Ghan Vati can be used as prophylactic, while Resveratrol can be used to reduce the hospitalization risk of COVID-19 patients. On the contrary, there were no clinical improvements demonstrated when using Cannabidiol.