WHO Advisory Group on Therapeutics Prioritization for COVID-19
The Advisory Group is set up with the aim of establishing an independent process to advise WHO on the selection of therapeutics for COVID-19.The AG will provide expert, impartial and timely advice on candidate drugs for treatment and prevention of COVID-19 to be evaluated in WHO-sponsored platform studies, including trials in hospitalized patients as well as outpatients, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).

About

The WHO Advisory Group on Therapeutics Prioritization for COVID-19 (henceforth the Advisory Group) is a small committee consisting of 5 to 12 globally recognized experts who serve in their personal capacity and represent a broad range of affiliations and disciplines encompassing many aspects of therapeutics and health products. The Advisory Group is set up with the aim of establishing an independent process to advise WHO on the selection of therapeutics for COVID-19. It will provide expert, impartial and timely advice on candidate drugs for treatment and prevention of COVID-19 to be evaluated in WHO-sponsored platform studies, including trials in hospitalized patients as well as outpatients, pre-exposure prophylaxis, and post-exposure prophylaxis. The Advisory Group recommendations will be considered by the Executive Group of the International Steering Committee of the WHO Solidarity Therapeutics Trial for addition to the study. 

Selected Advisory Group members will chair ad hoc technical expert panels with expertise in strategically important areas for COVID-19 treatment, and the main group will assimilate the advice from the technical expert panels. Technical expert panels will comprise specific and deep expertise in key areas and may include (but not necessarily limited to): antivirals; passive immunotherapy including monoclonal antibodies; immunomodulators; and antithrombotics. 

 

Composition

The following Members of the Advisory Group were selected according to their personal capacities, based on their interests, professional knowledge and expertise, as well as on their commitment and willingness to volunteer the necessary time and effort to committee work. Members do not receive any remuneration for the work performed for the Advisory Group. 

Members of the WHO Advisory Group on Therapeutics Prioritization for COVID-19 

Professor Mike Jacobs (Chair) 
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom 

Professor Marcel Levi (Chair of the Thrombostasis Technical Expert Panel)
University College London, London, United Kingdom 

Professor Paul Moss (Chair of the Inflammation Technical Expert Panel) 
University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom 

Professor Lisa Burry
University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada 

Professor Laura Evans
University of Washington Medical Centre, Seattle, Washington, United States 

Professor Annalisa Jenkins  
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom 

Professor Shevin Jacob
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom 
Global Health Security Department Infectious Diseases Institute, Uganda 

Professor Yee Sin Leo
Executive Director of the National Centre for Infectious Diseases 
Tan Tock Seng, Singapore 

Professor Vito Marco Ranieri 
University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy 

Professor Flavia Ribeiro Machado 
Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo,  Brazil 

Members of the Technical Expert Panel on Inflammation of the WHO Advisory Group on Therapeutics Prioritization for COVID-19  

Professor Paul Moss (Chair)
University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom 

Professor Craig Coopersmith
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States 

Professor Marc Feldmann
Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom 

Professor Tracy Hussell
University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom 

Professor Stanley Perlman
University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, United States  

Professor Manu Shankar-Hari
The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland

Professor Trent Woodruff
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia 

Members of the Technical Expert Panel on Thrombostasis of the WHO Advisory Group on Therapeutics Prioritization for COVID-19  

Professor Marcel Levi (Chair)
University College London, London, United Kingdom 

Professor Walter Ageno
Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy 

Professor Mark Crowther
McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada 

Professor Toshiaki Iba
Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan 

Professor Susan Kahn
McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 

Professor Saskia Middeldorp
Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands 

Professor Ryan Zarychanski
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 

Declaration of interests

All members completed a declaration of interests form. Reported interests are assessed and managed according to WHO procedures. Members are expected to proactively inform the WHO Secretariat on any change in relevant interests. The posted summary will then be updated accordingly.

9 members reported relevant interests summarized below:

  1. Laura Evans is the principal investigator (PI) on a funded prospective observational study of patients hospitalized with severe acute respiratory infection, including COVID-19. She serves on the US NIH COVID management guideline committee as the lead for the Critical Care group. She receives no compensation for this work. She also serves as co-chair of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign COVID-19 management in the critically ill. She receives no compensation for this role. Funded by CDC Foundation, support provided to her institution for salary support. These interests were assessed to be non-personal, specific and financially insignificant. * 
  2. Saskia Middeldorp indicated remuneration and research support has been provided to her employer from commercial entities (Pfizer, Daiichi Sankyo, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bayer, Portola, AbbVie, BMS/Pfizer, Sanofi). These interests were assessed to be non-personal, non-specific and financially insignificant. * 
  3. Walter Ageno indicated that his research unit received support from a commercial entity (Bayer) for research projects on the treatment of splanchnic vein thrombosis and the treatment of isolated distal deep vein thrombosis. Additionally, he received support for his participation to several advisory boards (Aspen; Boehringer Ingelheim; Bayer; Daiichi Sankyo; Portola; Sanofi), training and speeches (Aspen; Bayer; Daiichi Sankyo; BMS/Pfizer; Sanofi; Janssen). These interests were assessed to be personal, non-specific and financially insignificant. * 
  4. Ryan Zarychanski is the chair of a large international anticoagulation trial in COVID-19. This is peer-review, grant funded (government and foundations) and in collaboration with many stakeholders globally.  These interests were assessed to be non-personal, specific and financially insignificant. * 
  5. Susan Khan served on the Advisory board of Sanofi, Pfizer and Alexion until 2018 with direct payment to her. She is currently consulting with Alexion (consultancy due to end Dec 2020) to develop an educational tool; payment will be made to her institution to support local patient education projects. These interests were assessed to be personal (only until 2018, since then non-personal), non-specific and financially insignificant. * 
  6. Marc Crowther indicated various advisory functions, presentations, preparation of materials and activities (such as DSMBs) on the general subject of anticoagulation and reversal of anticoagulation as well as parenteral iron therapy. These interests were assessed to be non-personal, specific and financially insignificant. * 
  7. Trent Woodruff indicated that research support and honoraria from Alexion Pharmaceuticals go to the University of Queensland, which he can then access as research funds to conduct experiments. He also indicated that they are in the process of submitting a patent on a new class of anti-C5a receptor (complement) inhibitors that are being targeted for neurological disease. He is a named inventor on this patent, and will share in any equity that results from commercialisation. While, there is very minimal link for these compounds to the WHO work, in theory, if complement inhibitors become a mainstay treatment for COVID or other coronavirus pandemics, then could be a potential benefit for his patent/drugs. These interests were assessed to be personal, non-specific and financially insignificant. *  
  8. Shevin Jacob indicated that is a Member of the Case Management Pillar for Uganda MoH COVID-19 Task Force since March 2020. No remuneration received for this role. These interests were assessed to be personal, non-specific and financially insignificant. * 
  9. Vito Marco Ranieri indicated that he is a member of the advisory board steering committee of a PHASE II trial pharmacological treatment of ARDS (Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals);  advisory board meeting on potential target of pharmacological treatment of ARDS (Translate Bio MA, Inc. a Delaware limited liability company). These interests were assessed to be personal, non-specific and financially insignificant.* 

 

* According to WHO's Guidelines for Declaration of Interests (WHO expert), an interest is considered "personal" if it generates financial or non-financial gain to the expert, such as consulting income or a patent. "Specificity" states whether the declared interest is a subject matter of the meeting or work to be undertaken. An interest has "financial significance" if the honoraria, consultancy fee or other received funding, including those received by expert's organization, from any single vaccine manufacturer or other vaccine-related company exceeds 10,000 USD in a calendar year. Likewise, a shareholding in any one vaccine manufacturer or other vaccine-related company in excess of 1,000 USD would also constitute a “significant shareholding”.