BerGenBio notes the UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) decision to cease the grant funding to the University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust for the COVID-19 ACCORD clinical study in which BerGenBio’s bemcentinib was the lead drug candidate to be tested.
Subsequently the University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust, who is the study sponsor, has notified all sites in the ACCORD study to cease recruitment of new patients into the trial. Patients already recruited, including those dosed with bemcentinib, will continue on treatment as per the protocol.
Still holds great potential
BerGenBio also confirms it is in late stage set-up phase to sponsor and conduct a similar study to ACCORD in a country of high COVID-19 incidence and expects to be in a position to update the market in the near future.
“Bemcentinib still holds great potential for the treatment of COVID-19, hence its selection by the UK Government for its urgent inclusion as the first drug to be dosed in the ACCORD study. In recent weeks the incidence of COVID-19 in the UK has drastically reduced and as a result the ACCORD programme hasn’t moved forward as swiftly as we expected. We are faced with the reality of the pandemic and need to adapt quickly in order to move forward in the interests of patients. We look forward to sponsoring an overseas study and are pleased that we are well positioned to do this important and rapid testing,” says Richard Godfrey, Chief Executive Officer of BerGenBio.
The ACCORD study
The ACcelerating COVID-19 Research & Development platform (ACCORD) study was being funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to rapidly test potential drugs through early stage clinical trials and feed them into the UK’s large-scale COVID-19 studies such as the , currently the world’s largest randomised controlled clinical trial for COVID-19 treatment.
Photo: Nils Olav Mevatne
