The RECOVERY Trial: Lessons from a COVID Platform Study with Global Reach

Martin Landray, PhD is Professor of Medicine & Epidemiology at the Nuffield Department of Population Health and Deputy Director at the Big Data Institute, University of Oxford, UK. His research focuses on the use of digital technology and quality-by-design principles for large randomized clinical trials. He directs the clinical trials programme for Health Data Research UK and NHS DigiTrials, the national health data hub for clinical trials. He leads the Good Clinical Trials Collaborative, supported by Wellcome Trust, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and African Academy of Sciences, which seeks to improve the guidelines and regulations that govern the conduct of clinical trials. His own trials have largely focussed on treatments for cardiovascular and kidney disease but in March 2020 he turned his attention to COVID-19. He is co-chief investigator of the RECOVERY trial, the world’s largest randomised trial of potential treatments for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. Within 100 days, the trial showed convincingly that dexamethasone reduces mortality by one-third among the sickest patients. That result was adopted into standard care worldwide within weeks of its announcement.