With Minimal Evidence, Trump Asks F.D.A. to Study Malaria Drugs for Coronavirus

Remdesivir has already been given to patients on a compassionate-use basis, including the first coronavirus patient in the United States, who was treated in Washington State in late January.

Remdesivir is being studied in clinical trials, but the results are not available yet. It was studied to treat Ebola, but did not work well enough to be useful for that disease.

Dr. Hahn noted that the agency’s job was to prove that drugs were safe and effective. “What’s also important is not to provide false hope, but to provide hope,” he said.

As word has spread about chloroquine’s potential, demand in the United States has overwhelmed the country’s only supplier of the drug, the New Jersey generic manufacturer Rising Pharmaceuticals.

Chloroquine has been in short supply since March 9, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, which tracks drug shortages. Hydroxychloroquine, which is made by more companies, has been in shortage since Thursday.

Ira Baeringer, chief operating officer of Rising Pharmaceuticals, said his company had been tracking the use of the drug in China and elsewhere. They increased production about three weeks ago, he said, and are meeting all of their orders. But he acknowledged that pharmacies may currently have low stocks.

“We are experiencing an extraordinary demand, as you can imagine, but we are shipping to all of the orders,” Mr. Baeringer said. He noted that the product had not yet been extensively tested for coronavirus so it was unclear how well it works. “We’re really trying to understand what the need is going to be.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/health/coronavirus-drugs-chloroquine.html