Novartis halts HCQ trial against Covid-19 amid shortage of participants

Team Udayavani, Jun 22, 2020, 11:18 AM IST

Swiss drugmaker Novartis has halted a clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine as a potential Covid-19 treatment due to “acute enrolment challenges” that made its completion infeasible

Novartis said, “The recruitment challenge facing our hydroxychloroquine trial has made it unlikely that the clinical team will be able to collect meaningful data in a reasonable time frame to determine the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in treating patients with Covid-19”

Novartis’ trial began in April and sought to test the drug in 440 hospitalized patients. It has taken decision to revoke emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine.

Novartis had donated up to 130 million doses of hydroxychloroquine, including millions in the United States.

Earlier, Several studies of the decades-old malaria drug including in Britain were recently halted after scientists concluded it was “useless” against Covid-19.