Global Coalition for Adaptive Research, the U.S. Sponsor of REMAP-COVID, announced that Eisai has ended the evaluation of eritoran in the REMAP-COVID study. Eritoran, an investigational TLR-4 antagonist discovered and developed by Eisai, was selected for evaluation because it was hypothesized to suppress the over-production and release of various pro-inflammatory mediators (“cytokine storm”) observed in some COVID-19 patients by modulating the production of inflammatory cytokines. The decision to terminate the evaluation was due to changes in the COVID-19 landscape.

REMAP-CAP (A Randomized, Embedded, Multifactorial, Adaptive Platform trial for Community-Acquired Pneumonia) was developed to test treatments for severe pneumonia both in non-pandemic and pandemic settings. In February 2020, REMAP-CAP rapidly pivoted to its pandemic mode (known as the REMAP-COVID sub-study in the U.S.), as per its original intent, to incorporate additional potential treatment regimens specifically targeting COVID-19 and to expand enrollment to COVID-19 patients. The international trial uses an innovative trial design to efficiently evaluate multiple interventions simultaneously with treatments tested within groupings or “domains” based on pathway or mechanism of action.

To date, REMAP-CAP includes 55 current or completed interventions in 16 domains. Research from REMAP-CAP has supported numerous treatment guidelines for patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and has contributed to over 15 publications including NEJM and JAMA.