Remotely-conducted Trial of Famotidine vs Placebo for Patients at Home With Coronavirus (COVID) of 2019 (COVID-19)

If an Over-The-Counter (OTC) medication could prevent worsening and hospitalization for COVID-19, it could stop the devastation wrought by the pandemic, and do so at a low cost. One OTC medication has a pre-clinical and clinical rationale to help: famotidine. For this study, 150 subjects are randomly assigned 50:50 to blinded treatment with 1 (20-milligram) tablet famotidine or matching placebo twice a day and can increase to 1 tablet three times a day. This internet-driven study requires subjects to maintain contact with and follow advice of their local MD, so it does not increase their risks from the disease. Baseline eligibility checklist follows informed consent. Subjects must have at least 5 of the standard symptoms of COVID19, be willing to keep taking study medicine and reporting results daily for 30 days, must start within the first 6 days of symptoms, and must have a study partner to complete their follow-up in case they become unable. The rate of subjects worsening or getting hospitalized is the main outcome measure.