‘Data from other studies are conflicting’
Commenting on the study, Diane V. Havlir, MD, cautioned that “metformin is currently not recommended in treatment guidelines, [and] data from other studies are conflicting; side effects can be an issue, and the study presented here was in a select population,” she said in an interview.
However, “what is both new and interesting in this presentation is the reduction of viral load, which [was observed] in the samples collected not only on days 1-5, but also days 6-14,” said Dr. Havlir, who is professor and associate chair of clinical research, department of medicine, and chief of the division of HIV, infectious diseases and global medicine and director of the AIDS Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco.
Key questions the findings raise include whether the results correlate with clinical outcomes or transmission, and whether the findings are generalizable to other populations and settings, Dr. Havlir said.
Ultimately, “we need to continue to pursue all aspects of outpatient treatments for COVID to address questions like these for new and existing agents,” she added.
The trial received funding from the Parsemus Foundation, the Rainwater Charitable Foundation, Fast Grants, and the United Health Group. The authors and Dr. Havlir disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article originally appeared on Medscape.com.