The Outcomes Related to COVID-19 Treated with Hydroxychloroquine among In-patients with Symptomatic Disease (ORCHID) trial stopped enrolling new patients based on the fourth scheduled interim analysis showing no evidence of benefit or harm.
The ORCHID trial enrolled 479 adult patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in 11 weeks at 34 hospitals in the United States. It was a multicenter, blinded, placebo-controlled randomized trial, which is the most rigorous study design to evaluate the effects of a medication. In addition to usual medical care for COVID-19, patients in the trial were treated with either five days of hydroxychloroquine or a placebo pill that did not have medication in it. Patients, treating clinicians and researchers were all “blinded,” meaning that they did not know whether a given patient was receiving hydroxychloroquine or placebo.