"Drug makers have long run so-called “compassion

"Drug makers have long run so-called “compassionate use” programs that allow patients to take unapproved, experimental drugs if they have no other options. The switch to what’s known as an “expanded access program,” would allow the approvals to apply to larger groups instead of one individual at a time. These programs are often run as loose clinical trials, in which patients who did not qualify for the more stringent requirements of the trial can enroll. In addition to giving more patients access to the drug, it also allows the companies to collect data, including what dose was used, how sick the patient was and the extent that it worked. In compassionate-use programs, this type of information is usually not shared.

“You are trying to save somebody, rescue somebody. It’s a last-ditch throwing the kitchen sink at them, and you rarely get information back,” said Dr. Art Caplan, head of the division of medical ethics at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine. He said that he was giving unpaid advice to some companies pursuing treatments for coronavirus. The shift to a broader program will allow Gilead to learn about the drug. Without it, “you don’t learn what’s going on, so you’re sort of stuck.”"

Some info on what is available by way of data from the different clinical test

https://dnyuz.com/2020/03/23/coronavirus-pati...ug-access/