• Statistically significant improvements are seen for mortality, hospitalization, progression, recovery, cases, and viral clearance. 17 studies from 11 independent teams in 4 different countries show statistically significant improvements in isolation (8 for the most serious outcome).
• Meta analysis using the most serious outcome reported shows 60% [42‑73%] improvement. Results are similar for Randomized Controlled Trials, similar after exclusions, and similar for peer-reviewed studies. Results are consistent with early treatment being more effective than late treatment.
• Results are robust — in exclusion sensitivity analysis 12 of 21 studies must be excluded to avoid finding statistically significant efficacy in pooled analysis.
• Efficacy is variant dependent.
In Vitro studies suggest a lack of efficacy for omicron [Liu, Sheward, Tatham, VanBlargan]. Monoclonal antibody use with variants can be associated with prolonged viral loads, clinical deterioration, and immune escape [Choudhary].
• While many treatments have some level of efficacy, they do not replace vaccines and other measures to avoid infection. Only 29% of casirivimab/imdevimab studies show zero events in the treatment arm. Multiple treatments are typically used in combination, and other treatments may be more effective.
• No treatment, vaccine, or intervention is 100% available and effective for all variants. All practical, effective, and safe means should be used. Denying the efficacy of treatments increases mortality, morbidity, collateral damage, and endemic risk.
• All data to reproduce this paper and sources are in the appendix.
Covid Analysis et al., 6/22/2022, preprint, 1 author.