The attached article includes a key quote from the
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"We're looking at drugs that are already approved for other indications as a potential bridge or stopgap until studies are completed on other drugs under investigation, Hahn said.”
Note that one of the drugs the President mentioned today has serious side effects. Testing will logically start with approved drugs and then with drugs like Brilacidin that have been proven to be safe but have yet to make it through Phase 3 and to market. The RBL is testing Brilacidin this week. With multiple trails and testing happening across the globe, Brilacidin could prove to be a more effective treatment in both safety and effectiveness against COVID-19 vs currently approved drugs. The coronavirus pandemic is growing exponentially so any therapy that can save lives will be seriously evaluated and quickly deployed.
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Fox News Flash top headlines for March 19
Chloroquine, a drug that has been used to prevent and treat malaria, has shown promise in being a potential treatment for the novel cornavirus sweeping the globe, President Trump said Thursday. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization announced a multicountry clinical trial of four drugs as possible COVID-19 treatments -- one of those drugs is chloroquine.
Chloroquine is widely available now and could be used off-label, but FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn explained that officials want a formal study to get good information on its safety and effectiveness. The drug was first used to treat malaria in 1944.
"We're looking at drugs that are already approved for other indications" as a potential bridge or stopgap until studies are completed on other drugs under investigation, Hahn said.
When people become infected with COVID-19, the virus's protein spikes bind to receptors on the outside of human cells. Chloroquine has worked by interrupting that process with SARS. It could potentially interfere with COVID-19's ability to bind to cells.
"The way that it worked against SARS was by preventing of the attachment of the virus to the cells. Chloroquine interfered with the attachment to that receptor on the cell membrane surface," Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonologist and internist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, told ABC News. "So it’s disrupting a lock and key kind of mechanism of attachment."
Side effects from the drug include muscle problems, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and skin rash, while more serious ones include problems with vision and muscle damage, according to the American Society of Pharmacists.
However, there remains no proven treatment for the novel coronavirus, from which most people recover. The virus has infected over 230,000 worldwide and killed more than 9,300.