The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that testing of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine in its large multi-country trial of treatments for COVID-19 patients had been halted after new data and studies showed no benefit.
WHO expert Ana Maria Henao-Restrepo said investigators leading the so-called Solidarity Trial testing the drug – which had been promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump – had reviewed recent evidence and decided to stop recruiting new patients.
“After deliberation, they have concluded that the hydroxychloroquine arm will be stopped from the Solidarity Trial,” Henao-Restrepo told a media briefing.
In a statement issued later on Wednesday, the WHO said the decision was based on evidence from the Solidarity Trial itself, as well as from a UK-led trial that had found the drug did not help COVID-19 patients, and from a review of other evidence on hydroxychloroquine.
Data from those studies “showed that hydroxychloroquine does not result in the reduction of mortality of hospitalised COVID-19 patients,” the WHO statement said.
It said Solidarity Trial investigators would not add any more patients to the hydroxychloroquine arm.
Data from a UK-led clinical trial known as the Recovery trial found last week that the anti-malaria drug showed no benefit for patients with COVID-19.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday revoked its emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19, saying it was no longer reasonable to believe that hydroxychloroquine and the related drug chloroquine would be effective in treating the disease.
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