In Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump said during a news
conference on Friday he is optimistic about the malaria treatment's use against
COVID-19.
Novartis makes the malaria drug, which is
also used to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, at its Sandoz unit in the
United States
Novartis will donate enough doses of malaria drug
hydroxychloroquine to treat several million patients in the fight against the
coronavirus, if it wins approval, the Swiss company said on Friday. There are
no vaccines or treatments approved for the disease, but there is currently a
1,500-person trial, led by the University
of Minnesota, to see whether hydroxychloroquine can prevent or reduce
the severity of COVID-19. Two other trials are studying blood pressure drug
losartan as a possible treatment.
Novartis makes the malaria drug, which is also used to
treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, at its Sandoz unit
in the United States. It plans to donate 130 million doses of the drug and is
in talks with U.S. Food and Drug
Administration regulators over expanding its use for coronavirus.
"Novartis is supporting ongoing clinical trial
efforts, and will evaluate needs for additional clinical trials," it said
in a statement. In Washington, U.S. President Donald
Trump said during a news conference on Friday he is optimistic about
the malaria treatment's use against COVID-19.
Anthony
Fauci, director of the U.S. National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, did not take issue with
Trump's optimism, but said the drug's promise is based so far on anecdotal
evidence in France and that more data is needed. "What I'm saying is that
it might - it might - be effective. I'm not saying that it isn't," Fauci
said.
Fauci also said that while toxic reactions to the drugs
are rare based on decades of patient use and can be reversible in many cases,
that is not known for COVID-19. "What we don't know is when you put it in
the context of another disease whether it's safe. Fundamentally, I think it
probably is going to be safe, but I like to prove things first," Fauci
said.
Novartis has 50 million doses in stock, and hopes to produce another 80 million
by the end of May for donation. The donations may be sufficient to treat
several million patients, depending on the dosing regimen, Novartis said. The
American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), added hydroxychloroquine
to its list of drugs in short supply this week. Four out of eight manufacturers
of the drug are in short supply, it said.
Bayer AG has donated three million tablets of the malaria
drug Resochin, which is similar to hydroxychloroquine, to the U.S. government
for potential use against coronavirus. Mylan NV is ramping up production and
expects to begin supplying it more broadly in mid-April. It said with the raw
materials on hand it can make 50 million tablets to potentially treat more than
1.5 million patients.
Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd said it would donate
more than six million doses of hydroxychloroquine sulfate tablets.
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