Novartis AG chief executive Vas Narasimhan said his Sandoz generics unit’s malaria, lupus and arthritis drug hydroxychloroquine is the company’s biggest hope against COVID-19, Swiss weekly SonntagsZeitung reported yesterday.
Novartis has pledged to donate 130 million doses and is supporting clinical trials needed before the medicine, which US President Donald Trump also has been promoting, can be approved for use.
Other companies including Bayer AG and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd have also agreed to donate hydroxychloroquine or similar drugs, while Gilead Sciences Inc is testing its experimental drug remdesivir against COVID-19.
“Pre-clinical studies in animals, as well as the first data from clinical studies, show that hydroxychloroquine kills the coronavirus,” Narasimhan told the newspaper. “We’re working with Swiss hospitals on possible treatment protocols for the clinical use of the drug, but it’s too early to say anything definitively.”
He said the company is currently looking for additional active drug ingredients to make more hydroxychloroquine, should clinical trials be successful.
Narasimhan said that three other Novartis drugs — Jakavi for cancer, multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya and fever drug Ilaris — are being studied for their effect on complications related to COVID-19, SonntagsZeitung reported.
This follows efforts to repurpose drugs made by Roche Holding AG and Sanofi SA to treat complications related to the disease.
Meanwhile, Gilead is to expand access to its experimental anti-coronavirus drug remdesivir to accelerate its emergency use for multiple severely ill patients.
The drugmaker said it is switching to “expanded access” from a “compassionate use” program under which remdesivir was given to more than 1,000 COVID-19 patients.
“With expanded access, hospitals or physicians can apply for emergency use of remdesivir for multiple severely ill patients at a time,” Gilead chairman and CEO Daniel O’Day said in an open letter sent by e-mail on Saturday.
“While it will take some time to build a network of active sites, this approach will ultimately accelerate emergency access for more people,” he said.
Remdesivir was developed initially for Ebola and studied in patients in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Multiple clinical trials are investigating the drug’s effects in COVID-19 patients in China and elsewhere.
Initial results might be reported in the coming weeks, O’Day said.
If approved, the Foster City, California-based company “will work to ensure affordability and access, so that remdesivir is available to patients with the greatest need,” he said.
“The urgency comes from knowing the desperate need among patients and the lack of any approved treatment,” O’Day said. “The responsibility is to ensure that remdesivir, an investigational medicine, is effective and safe before it is distributed for use worldwide,” he said.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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