Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University (Winship) and Emory investigators are testing whether an anticancer drug can reduce lung inflammation in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, possibly preventing the need for intubation and lowering mortality.

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The drug is called duvelisib, and it was FDA-approved in 2018 for the treatment of relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma. This Phase II study is sponsored by duvelisib's manufacturer, Verastem Oncology.

The principal investigator for the DAMPEN-CI (Duvelisib Antagonizes Manifestations of Pneumonia in Established Novel Coronavirus Infection) study is Winship hematologist Edmund K. Waller, MD, PhD, professor of hematology and medical oncology, medicine, and pathology at Emory University School of Medicine and holder of the Rein Saral, MD Professorship in Cancer Medicine. Waller is also medical director of the Center for Stem Cell Processing and Apheresis at Emory University Hospital.