The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently announced it will fund a large randomized clinical trial to assess whether existing drugs already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can be repurposed to treat COVID-19 at home. The NIH said it will provide $155 million in funding for a Phase 3 trial to test the effectiveness of seven over-the-counter and prescription medications to lessen the severity and duration of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 symptoms. “While we’re doing a good job with treating hospitalized patients with severe disease, we don’t currently have an approved medication that can be self-administered to ease symptoms of people suffering mild disease at home, and reduce the chance of their needing hospitalization,” NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins said in a press release. “ACTIV-6 will evaluate whether certain drugs showing promise in small trials can pass the rigor of a larger trial.” Under ACTIV-6 protocol, repurposing approved drugs …