Efficacy of polyherbal formulation along with standard care of treatment in early recovery of COVID-19 patients: a randomized placebo-controlled trial

Background The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic crisis has affected millions of people worldwide. The emergence of mutant strains one after the other, breakthrough infections post-vaccination and reinfection of the virus have made it difficult to fight the pandemic and bring an end to it. Naturally available compounds with an array of phytochemicals and potent antiviral properties can provide an alternate solution in improving innate immunity, early recovery and symptomatic cure from COVID-19. Objective The present study investigates the efficacy of a polyherbal formulation, NAOQ19, on the rate of recovery and clinical improvement among COVID-19-infected patients who were not on a ventilator or in intensive care unit. Methods A randomized placebo-controlled study design was adopted for the study. The study enrolled 124 patients with 62 patients included in the NAOQ19 arm and other 62 patients enrolled in the placebo arm along with standard care of treatment. Key outcomes of the study included improvement from COVID-19 based on RT-PCR negative test tested on day 3, 5, 7 and 10, CRP inflammatory rate and drug safety. Data analysis included intention to treat approach. Significance was accepted with a two-sided p value