Abstract
Objective: To provide the latest evidence on the efficacy and safety of
Arbidol (Umifenovir) in COVID-19. Methods: A comprehensive systematic
search of the evidence was carried out in PubMed, Cochran library,
Embase, and Medrxiv up to October 1, 2020. The Cochrane risk of bias
tool and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale checklist were used for assessing the
quality of studies. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan (version
5.3). Results: Fifteen studies were met for the inclusion. No
significant difference was observed between Arbidol and control groups
in terms of primary outcomes, including negative rate of PCR (NR-PCR) on
7 days (risk ratio [RR] 0.89; P=0.37) and 14 days (RR: 1.10;P=0.17),
negative conversion time (NCT) (mean difference [MD]: 0.74; P=0.37),
and as well as secondary outcomes (P<0.05). Compared with
LPV/r, Arbidol showed a better efficacy in terms of NR-PCR on 14 days
(P=0.02). In contrast, NCT in LPV/r was higher (P=0.007). However, not
significant difference was found in terms of NR-PCR on 7 days (P=0.05).
Adding Arbidol to LPV/r was led to a better efficacy in terms of NR-PCR
on 7 days and NCT (P<0.05). Nevertheless, it was not
significant reading NR-PCR on 14 days (P=0.99). There is no significant
difference Arbidol vs. Interferon /Arbidol and IFN/Arbidol vs.
Interferon (P<0.05). Conclusion: Arbidol was not superior to
control against COVID-19. Additionally, not major treatment effect was
found compared with other therapeutic agents. There are needed
well-designed studies with large sample size to establish on efficacy
and safety of Arbidol.