Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

WHO expects hydroxychloroquine safety findings by mid-June

Published 2020-05-26, 01:35 p/m
Updated 2020-05-26, 02:06 p/m
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Porto Alegre

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Porto Alegre

By John Miller

ZURICH (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday promised a swift review of data on hydroxychloroquine, probably by mid-June, after safety concerns prompted the group to suspend the malaria drug's use in a large trial on COVID-19 patients.

U.S. President Donald Trump and others have pushed hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus treatment, but the WHO on Monday called time after the British journal The Lancet reported patients getting hydroxychloroquine had increased death rates and irregular heartbeats.

"A final decision on the harm, benefit or lack of benefit of hydroxychloroquine will be made once the evidence has been reviewed," the body said. "It is expected by mid-June."

Those already in a 17-country study, called Solidarity, of thousands of patients who have started hydroxychloroquine can finish their treatment, the WHO said.

Newly enrolled patients will get other treatments being evaluated, including Gilead (NASDAQ:GILD) Science's remdesivir and AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV)'s Kaletra/Aluvia.

Separate hydroxychloroquine trials, including a 440-patient U.S. study by Swiss drugmaker Novartis, are continuing enrollment.

Novartis and rival Sanofi (PA:SASY) have pledged donations of tens of millions of doses of the drug, also used in rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, for COVID-19.

Novartis said The Lancet study, while covering 100,000 people, was "observational" and could not demonstrate a causal link between hydroxychloroquine and side effects.

"We need randomised, controlled clinical trials to clearly understand efficacy and safety," a Novartis spokesman said.

The WHO said its safety-board review would examine not just Solidarity patients, but other hydroxychloroquine studies too, to determine if a pattern emerges similar to problems described in The Lancet.

Dr. Oriol Manuel, infectious disease expert and national coordinator of the Solidarity study in Switzerland, said hitting pause now made sense.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Porto Alegre

"There are several thousand patients already enrolled, some randomised to receive hydroxychloroquine, some who did not receive any drug," Manuel told Reuters. "They can do a comparison of the use of hydroxychloroquine ... to see whether there is a signal of some kind of adverse events."

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.