NIH Halts HCQ Study in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients

The National Institutes of Health has halted its study into the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19, Politico reports.  

"A data and safety monitoring board met late Friday and determined that while there was no harm, the study drug was very unlikely to be beneficial to hospitalized patients with Covid-19," the NIH said in a statement.

Hydroxychloroquine, which is typically used to treat malaria and rheumatoid conditions, was frequently touted by President Donald Trump as a potential treatment for COVID-19, and even took the drug himself.

Earlier this week, the Food and Drug Administration pulled its emergency use authorization that "allowed for chloroquine phosphate and hydroxychloroquine sulfate donated to the Strategic National Stockpile to be used to treat certain hospitalized patients with COVID-19 when a clinical trial was unavailable, or participation in a clinical trial was not feasible."

The World Health Organization then stopped its trial of the medication's effect on COVID-19 patients.

"In various studies, the drug had demonstrated antiviral activity, an ability to modify the activity of the immune system, and it has an established safety profile at appropriate doses, leading to the hypothesis that it may have also been useful in the treatment of Covid-19," the NIH said in its statement.

• WHO Stops Testing Hydroxychloroquine as Coronavirus Treatment
• Mayo Clinic Expert Backs Revoking Hydroxychloroquine as COVID-19 Treatment