International trial uses AI to rapidly identify optimal Covid-19 treatments

Treating patients with the never-before-seen Covid-19 is forcing doctors to choose between two equally unpalatable options: try an unproven therapy and hope it works, or treat patients with standard supportive care for severe respiratory disease until a randomized controlled trial establishes the best treatment.

But maybe the choice doesn’t have to be so stark.

A randomized controlled trial ramping up in dozens of hospitals around the world proposes a third way — fusing those two approaches together by using artificial intelligence to home in on the most effective treatments on the fly.

The study seeks to turn frenetic attempts to save is an effective therapy and, if so, for which types of patients. The trial will also allow the researchers to test multiple therapies at once.