Background. Presatovir significantly reduced nasal viral load, signs, and symptoms of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in a human challenge study. We evaluated presatovir in hematopoietic-cell transplant (HCT) recipients with RSV lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI).Methods. Patients with confirmed RSV in upper and lower respiratory tract and new chest X-ray abnormalities were randomized (1:1), stratified by supplemental oxygen and ribavirin use, to receive oral presatovir 200 mg or placebo every 4 days for 5 doses. The primary endpoint was time-weighted average change in nasal RSV viral load through day 9. Secondary endpoints included supplemental oxygen-free days, incident respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation, and all-cause mortality.Results. From January 31, 2015, to March 20, 2017, 60 patients from 17 centers were randomized (31 presatovir, 29 placebo); 59 received study treatment (50 allogeneic, 9 autologous HCT). In the efficacy population (29 presatovir, 28 placebo), presatovir treatment did not significantly reduce time-weighted average change in viral load (−1.12 vs −1.09 log 10 copies/mL; treatment difference −0.02 log 10 copies/mL, 95% confidence interval: −.62, .57; P = .94), median supplemental oxygen-free days (26 vs 28 days, P = .84), incident respiratory failure (10.3 vs 10.7%, P = .98), or all-cause mortality (0 vs 7.1%, P = .19) versus placebo. Adverse events were similar between arms (presatovir 80%, placebo 79%). Resistance-associated substitutions in RSV fusion protein emerged in 6/29 presatovir-treated patients.Conclusions. Presatovir treatment was well tolerated in HCT patients with RSV LRTI but did not improve virologic or clinical outcomes versus placebo. clinical Trials Registration. NCT02254421; EudraCT, #2014-002475-29 Keywords. Presatovir; respiratory syncytial virus; hematopoietic cell transplant; lower respiratory tract infection. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is usually associated with respiratory diseases of infants and young children, but RSV lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) can cause significant morbidity and mortality in adults with predisposing conditions [1]. In recent studies, 16%-27% of hematopoietic-cell transplantation (HCT) recipients initially diagnosed with RSV upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) had LRTI events [2-4]. Mortality rates of up to 60% are reported for RSV LRTI in HCT recipients but appear to be declining [3-7]; however, observed burden of RSV LRTI depends on diagnostic criteria. In cases Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/cid/ciz1167/5648099 by guest on 23 May 2020