“We will be able to make this drug available almost immediately,” said Donald Trump during a press conference at the White House.
The United States has approved the use of chloroquine, an antimalarial treatment, against the new coronavirus, which has “shown very very encouraging preliminary results”. This was announced on Thursday March 17 by US President Donald Trump.
“We will be able to make this medicine available almost immediately,” he said during a press conference at the White House. Donald Trump believes that this could “be a game-changer” in the face of the pandemic.
“Breaking down barriers”
He added that this treatment had already been “approved” by the federal agency that oversees the marketing of drugs in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), through a very shortened process. “So we’re going to be able to make this medication available by prescription,” he added.
The FDA, however, seemed to qualify this presidential announcement, noting that chloroquine was already approved for malaria and arthritis.
“The president asked us to take a closer look at this drug. We want to do this by setting up an extensive and pragmatic clinical trial to collect this information and answer any questions that arise, ” said its chief Stephen Hahn.
He stressed that while the FDA was ready to “break down barriers” to accelerate innovations, it also had a “responsibility” to “ensure that products are safe and effective” .