Arabi YM, Asiri AY, Assiri AM, et al. - Among patients hospitalized with Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), researchers examined how combined treatment with recombinant interferon beta-1b and lopinavir–ritonavir affects mortality. They enrolled 95 patients with laboratory-confirmed MERS in this randomized, adaptive, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial at nine sites in Saudi Arabia and randomized them to receive either recombinant interferon beta-1b plus lopinavir–ritonavir (intervention) or placebo for 14 days. Outcomes revealed lower mortality among patients who had been hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed MERS in correlation with receiving a combination of recombinant interferon beta-1b and lopinavir–ritonavir vs placebo. The greatest effect was noted in cases with treatment initiated within 7 days of symptom onset. By day 90, 12 patients (28%) in the intervention group and 23 (44%) in the placebo group died.