Therefore, the University of Columbia started a phase 2 first-in-human study for testing a neutralising IL-8 antibody with BMS-986253 (Bristol-Myers-Squibb, New York, USA) in a single centre trial with hospitalised COVID-19 patients (NCT04347226), of which the primary outcome data will be available in September 2021. Here, CXCL8 is linked to COVID-19.