Clinical efficacy of sofosbuvir/daclatasvir in patients with COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials

Background This study investigated the clinical efficacy sofosbuvir/daclatasvir (SOF-DCV) in patients with COVID-19. Research design and methods PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were searched for relevant articles written before January 6, 2022. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the clinical efficacy of SOF-DCV (study group) with alternative treatments (control group) in patients with COVID-19 were included. Results A total of 9 RCTs were included. The all-cause mortality rate in the study group was 10.7% (96/898), which was lower than that in the control group (12.3%, 108/871). However, this difference was not statistically significant (odds ratio [OR] = 0.83; 95% CI, 0.62-1.12; I-2 = 49%). The overall clinical recovery rate was significantly higher in the study group than in the control group (OR = 2.34; 95% CI, 1.47-3.72; I-2 = 20%). Furthermore, the average length of hospital stay was shorter in the study group than in the control group (mean deviation = -1.84; 95% CI, -3.42 to -0.26, I-2 = 68%). Conclusions Although SOF-DCV did not confer a survival benefit in patients with COVID-19, it may increase a patient's odds of clinical recovery, and shorten the length of their hospital stay.