Case Study: A Standardized Pipeline to Evaluate the Real-World Effectiveness of COVID-19 Treatments

Background

Amid the global health crisis of COVID-19, a wide range of outpatient treatments, such as antivirals, monoclonal antibodies, and prophylactics, were deployed to mitigate hospitalization, mortality, and long-term complications. However, the lack of standardization across cohorts, data preparation methods, and causal inference models made it difficult to objectively compare treatment outcomes. This created uncertainty in whether observed effectiveness differences were due to the drugs themselves or the analytical methods applied.

Challenge

Health agencies and researchers faced a fragmented evidence base. Studies using varying methodologies yielded conflicting results, hampering the ability to draw conclusive, real-world comparisons among COVID-19 treatments. The absence of a unified framework limited the potential to guide clinical and policy decisions with confidence.

Nextonic’s Solution

Nextonic Solutions designed and implemented a standardized, end-to-end analytical pipeline that unified:

• Data ingestion and preparation

• Cohort construction

• Causal inference methodology

This flexible yet rigorous framework allowed for consistent evaluation of multiple treatment types across large patient populations, enabling fair, head-to-head comparisons of clinical effectiveness.

Results and Outcomes

Using this pipeline, we evaluated 10 outpatient treatments for their impact on mortality, hospitalization, and long-COVID outcomes. Key findings included:

• Strongest benefit: Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir (Paxlovid) showed the most substantial reduction in mortality and hospitalization rates.

• Ineffectiveness confirmed: Unapproved treatments such as Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine had no significant impact.

• Preventive value: Evusheld, a prophylactic monoclonal antibody, demonstrated effectiveness in reducing the likelihood of COVID-19 infection.

This standardized analysis enabled healthcare leaders to distinguish signal from noise across disparate studies and datasets.

Strategic Impact

Nextonic’s standardized pipeline delivers a scalable, reproducible framework for assessing real-world treatment effectiveness. It empowers public health officials, researchers, and policymakers with objective, data-driven insights to:

• Optimize treatment guidelines

• Improve patient outcomes

• Inform public health strategies and funding decisions

By bridging gaps across science, data, and decision-making, this solution exemplifies Nextonic’s commitment to accelerating health impact through technical excellence.