Efficacy and safety of umifenovir for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19): A systematic review and meta‐analysis

We conducted this systemic review and meta‐analysis in an attempt to evaluate the efficacy and safety of umifenovir in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and medRxiv database. We included both retrospective and prospective studies. The mean difference (MD) and risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were applied to assess the effectiveness of umifenovir for COVID‐19. A total of 12 studies with 1052 patients were included in our final studies. Compared with control group, umifenovir was associated with higher negative rate of PCR on day 14 (RR:1.27; 95% CI: 1.04 to 1.55). However, umifenovir is not related to nucleus acid negative conversion time (MD: 0.09; 95% CI: −1.48 to 1.65), negative rate on day 7 (RR:1.09; 95% CI: 0.91 to 1.31), incidence of composite endpoint (RR:1.20; 95% CI: 0.61 to 2.37), rate of fever alleviation on day 7 (RR:1.00; 95% CI: 0.91 to 1.10), rate of cough alleviation on day 7 (RR:1.00; 95% CI: 0.85 to 1.18), or hospital length of stay (MD: 1.34; 95% CI: ‐2.08 to 4.76). Additionally, umifenovir was safe in COVID‐19 patients (RR for incidence of adverse events: 1.29; 95% CI: 0.57 to 2.92). The results of sensitivity analysis and subgroup analysis were similar to pooled results. There is no evidence to support the use of umifenovir for improving patient‐important outcomes in patients with COVID‐19. Highlights First meta‐analysis of efficacy and safety of umifenovir for COVID‐19. Umifenovir is safe and related to higher negative rate of PCR on day 14 in COVID‐19. The efficacy of umifenovir in COVID‐19 is limited. Umifenovir could not improve patient‐important outcomes in COVID‐19.