Famotidine Use Is Associated With Improved Clinical Outcomes in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: A Propensity Score Matched Retrospective Cohort Study

Freedberg et al., Gastroenterology, doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2020.05.053, May 2020
Death/intubation 57% improvement lower risk ← → higher risk Famotidine  Freedberg et al.  PROPHYLAXIS Is prophylaxis with famotidine beneficial for COVID-19? PSM retrospective 1,620 patients in the USA Lower death/intubation with famotidine (p=0.019) c19early.org Freedberg et al., Gastroenterology, May 2020 0 0.5 1 1.5 2+ RR
Famotidine for COVID-19
29th treatment shown to reduce risk in October 2021, now with p = 0.00028 from 30 studies, recognized in 2 countries.
Lower risk for mortality, hospitalization, recovery, and viral clearance.
No treatment is 100% effective. Protocols combine treatments.
6,300+ studies for 210+ treatments. c19early.org
Meta Analysis
PSM retrospective 1,620 hospitalized patients in the USA, 84 with existing famotidine use, showing lower risk of combined death/intubation with treatment.
Standard of Care (SOC) for COVID-19 in the study country, the USA, is very poor with very low average efficacy for approved treatments1. Only expensive, high-profit treatments were approved for early treatment. Low-cost treatments were excluded, reducing the probability of early treatment due to access and cost barriers, and eliminating complementary and synergistic benefits seen with many low-cost treatments.
Important missing comments or errors? Let us know.
Study covers proton pump inhibitors and famotidine.
risk of death/intubation, 57.0% lower, HR 0.43, p = 0.02, treatment 8 of 84 (9.5%), control 332 of 1,536 (21.6%), NNT 8.3, adjusted per study, propensity score matching, multivariable, Cox proportional hazards.
Effect extraction follows pre-specified rules prioritizing more serious outcomes. Submit updates
Freedberg et al., 21 May 2020, retrospective, propensity score matching, USA, peer-reviewed, 15 authors.
$0 $500 $1,000+ Efficacy vs. cost for COVID-19 treatment protocols c19early.org December 2025 USA Russia Sudan Angola Colombia Kenya Mozambique Vietnam Peru Philippines Spain Brazil Italy France Japan Canada China Uzbekistan Nepal Ethiopia Iran Ghana Mexico South Korea Germany Bangladesh Saudi Arabia Algeria Morocco Yemen Poland India DR Congo Madagascar Thailand Uganda Venezuela Nigeria Egypt Bolivia Taiwan Zambia Fiji Bosnia-Herzegovina Ukraine Côte d'Ivoire Bulgaria Greece Slovakia Singapore Iceland New Zealand Czechia Mongolia Israel Trinidad and Tobago Hong Kong North Macedonia Belarus Qatar Panama Serbia CAR USA favored high-profit treatments.The average efficacy of treatments was very low.High-cost protocols reduce early treatment, andforgo complementary/synergistic benefits. More effective More expensive 75% 50% 25% ≤0%
$0 $500 $1,000+ Efficacy vs. cost for COVID-19treatment protocols worldwide c19early.org December 2025 USA Russia Sudan Angola Colombia Kenya Mozambique Vietnam Peru Philippines Spain Brazil Italy France Japan Canada China Uzbekistan Nepal Ethiopia Iran Ghana Mexico South Korea Germany Bangladesh Saudi Arabia Algeria Morocco Yemen Poland India DR Congo Madagascar Thailand Uganda Venezuela Nigeria Egypt Bolivia Taiwan Zambia Fiji Ukraine Côte d'Ivoire Eritrea Bulgaria Greece Slovakia Singapore New Zealand Malawi Czechia Mongolia Israel Trinidad and Tobago North Macedonia Belarus Qatar Panama Serbia Syria USA favored high-profit treatments.The average efficacy was very low.High-cost protocols reduce early treatment,and forgo complementary/synergistic benefits. More effective More expensive 75% 50% 25% ≤0%
Famotidine Use Is Associated With Improved Clinical Outcomes in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: A Propensity Score Matched Retrospective Cohort Study
MD, MS Daniel E Freedberg, Joseph Conigliaro, Timothy C Wang, Kevin J Tracey, Michael V Callahan, MD, MS Julian A Abrams, Magdalena E Sobieszczyk, David D Markowitz, Aakriti Gupta, Max R O’donnell, Jianhua Li, David A Tuveson, Zhezhen Jin, William C Turner, Donald W Landry
Gastroenterology, doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2020.05.053
See Covering the Cover synopsis on page 803.
Supplementary Material Note: To access the supplementary material accompanying this article, visit the online version of Gastroenterology at www.gastrojournal.org, and at https://doi.org/10.1053/ j.gastro.2020.05.053.
References
Anand, Ziebuhr, Wadhwani, None, Science
Bourinbaiar, Fruhstorfer, None, Life Sci
Chen, Deng, Churchill, None, Cell Stem Cell
Gottschlich, Delegge, Guenter, American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition
Li, Zhang, Liu, Gu, None, FASEB J
Wu, Liu, Yang, None, Acta Pharm Sin B
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