FDA Issues Emergency Approval of Anti-Malaria Drugs to Treat Coronavirus; Study Will Test If Hydroxychloroquine Can Prevent COVID-19

By Washington Examiner. The Food and Drug Administration issued a limited emergency use authorization of two malaria drugs that have been pushed by President Trump for treating the coronavirus.

In a statement Sunday night, the Health and Human Services Department announced it had received 30 million doses of hydroxychloroquine sulfate and one million doses of chloroquine phosphate. The drugs were donated to the Strategic National Stockpile, a repository of potentially life-saving medical supplies.

The statement said the FDA had issued an emergency use authorization to allow both drugs “to be distributed and prescribed by doctors to hospitalized teen and adult patients with COVID-19, as appropriate, when a clinical trial is not available or feasible.” (Read more from “FDA Issues Emergency Approval of Anti-Malaria Drugs to Treat Coronavirus” HERE)

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Study Will Test If Hydroxychloroquine Can Prevent COVID-19

By Live Science. The anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine has made headlines in recent weeks for its potential to help with the new coronavirus disease, COVID-19, though its benefits remain unproven. Now, a new study will test whether the drug can prevent COVID-19 transmission.

For the study, researchers in New York and Washington state plan to enroll 2,000 participants who are close contacts of people with confirmed or pending COVID-19 diagnoses.

Participants will be randomly assigned to take either hydroxychloroquine or a placebo for two weeks, and they will be tested daily for COVID-19, according to a statement from the University of Washington (UW), which will collaborate on the study with New York University (NYU).

The trial is expected to last eight weeks, and researchers hope to have the results by summer.

“Currently, there is no proven way to prevent COVID-19 after being exposed,” Anna Bershteyn, an assistant professor of population health at NYU Langone Health and co-principal investigator on the study, said in the statement. “If hydroxychloroquine provides protection, then it could be an essential tool for fighting this pandemic. If it doesn’t, then people should avoid unnecessary risks from taking the drug.” (Read more from “Study Will Test If Hydroxychloroquine Can Prevent COVID-19” HERE)

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