On Aug. 3, 2020, the University of Oxford and the COVID Symptom Study joined forces to widen access to two clinical trials of potential treatments for COVID-19. The COVID Symptom Study App was developed and is managed by health technology company ZOE, with the research using data from the app being undertaken by academics at King’s College London.

To date, the app had now been downloaded by over 3.5 million people in the UK and has recruited over 800,000 citizen scientists to its Vaccine and Trial Registry.

Those users who have already signed up to the COVID Symptom Study Vaccine and Trial registry and test positive for COVID-19, or show signs of symptomatic COVID in the app, will be contacted and given the opportunity to join Oxford University’s PRINCIPLE and STOIC trials.

The PRINCIPLE Trial was evaluating whether treatment early on in the community can help people aged over 50 recover quickly from COVID-19 illness, without the need for hospital admission.

The trial, which was open across the UK to people aged over 50 with an underlying health condition or anyone aged over 65, can be easily joined online from home without face-to-face visits, or via GP practices across the country. It was one of the UK Government’s national priority platform trials on COVID-19 treatments.

PRINCIPLE was evaluating azithromycin and doxycycline, which are two commonly prescribed antibiotics. These drugs are thought to have anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties against coronavirus, and also treat bacterial infections like pneumonia, which is a common reason for deterioration in people with COVID-19.

665 people had already signed-up to take part, but many more were needed to determine whether either of the treatments can help treat the disease. The collaboration with the COVID Symptom Study app will help to link eligible individuals with the PRINCIPLE trial.

The STOIC (STerOids In COVID) study was investigating the early use of a steroid inhaler, in people with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19, as a treatment to reduce the chance of needing to go to hospital. Inhaled steroids are a type of medicine which reduces inflammation, so their use early in the disease course of COVID-19 could reduce the inflammation caused by the virus and help prevent severe disease.

The STOIC study was open to anyone over the age of 18 with new symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 within the last seven days. To get the study treatment (a Budesonide steroid inhaler) as early as possible, a positive test result is not necessary to join the study. Volunteers participated from home, with the trial’s research nurses dropping off all the study equipment and medications on participants’ doorsteps. All volunteers in the STOIC study were provided with an oxygen monitor and a thermometer to detect any signs of worsening symptoms, and everyone was monitored via daily phone calls with the study’s clinical team. The study was looking for volunteers in the Thames Valley and will expand to other areas in the next few weeks.