The study, however, concluded that HCQ had no potential harm either.

If hydroxychloroquine can relegate the coronavirus to just being a bad cold, the whole landscape of Covid19 changes.

Recent reports have suggested that the combination of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, and the antibiotic azithromycin may help patients with COVID-19, said scientists from the New York University School of Medicine in the US.

Disappointing results for malaria drug hydroxychloroquine which has been favoured by Donald Trump and some in the media as a possible treatment for coronavirus.

President Trump made a grave mistake by heavily and repeatedly promoting COVID-19 products for which there was too little evidence.

A new hydroxychloroquine study -- "the largest to date" -- was published Thursday in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. It concluded that Covid-19 patients taking the drug "do not fare better than those not receiving the drug," reports Time: Dr. Neil Schluger, chief of the division of pulmonary, allergy and critical care medicine at Columbia, and his team studied more than 1,300 patients admitted to New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia University Irving Medical Center for COVID-19. Some received hydroxychloroquine on an off-label basis, a practice that allows doctors to prescribe a drug that has been approved for one disease to treat another — in this case, COVID-19. About 60% of the patients received hydroxychloroquine for about five days. They did not show any lower rate of needing ventilators or a lower risk of dying during the study period compared to people not getting the drug. "We don't think at this point, given the totality of evidence, that it is reasonable to routinely give this drug to patients," says Schluger. "We don't see the rationale for doing that." While the study did not randomly assign people to receive the drug or placebo and compare their outcomes, the large number of patients involved suggests the findings are solid. Based on the results, Schluger says doctors at his hospital have already changed their advice about using hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19. "Our guidance early on had suggested giving hydroxychloroquine to hospitalized patients, and we updated that guidance to remove that suggestion," he says. In another study conducted at U.S. veterans hospitals where severely ill patients were given hydroxychloroquine, "the drug was found to be of no use against the disease and potentially harmful when given in high doses," reports the Chicago Tribune. They also report that to firmly establish whether the drug has any effect, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is now funding a randomized, controlled trial at six medical institutions of hundreds of people who've tested positive for Covid-19.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

As resistance to artemisinins (current frontline drugs in malaria treatment) emerges in south East Asia, there is an urgent need to identify the genetic determinants and understand the molecular mechanisms underpinning such resistance. Such insights could lead to prospective interventions to contain resistance and prevent the eventual spread to other malaria endemic regions. Artemisinin reduced susceptibility in South East Asia (SEA) has been primarily linked to mutations in P. falciparum Kelch-13, which is currently widely recognised as a molecular marker of artemisinin resistance. However, 2 mutations in a ubiquitin hydrolase, UBP-1, have been previously associated with artemisinin reduced susceptibility in a rodent model of malaria and some cases of UBP-1 mutation variants associating with artemisinin treatment failure have been reported in Africa and SEA. In this study, we have employed CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing and pre-emptive drug pressures to test these artemisinin susceptibility associated mutations in UBP-1 in P. berghei sensitive lines in vivo. Using these approaches, we have shown that the V2721F UBP-1 mutation results in reduced artemisinin susceptibility, while the V2752F mutation results in resistance to chloroquine and moderately impacts tolerance to artemisinins. Genetic reversal of the V2752F mutation restored chloroquine sensitivity in these mutant lines while simultaneous introduction of both mutations could not be achieved and appears to be lethal. Interestingly, these mutations carry a detrimental growth defect, which would possibly explain their lack of expansion in natural infection settings. Our work has provided independent experimental evidence on the role of UBP-1 in modulating parasite responses to artemisinin and chloroquine under in vivo conditions.

South Africa’s chloroquine supplies were temporarily depleted amid speculation that the drug could be used to treat the coronavirus and additional supplies to treat lupus sufferers had to be procured from India.

The assistant professor of anaesthesia at AIIMS said there are contradictory reports on HCQ usage for treating COVID-19.

“We didn’t see any association between getting this medicine and the chance of dying or being intubated,” lead researcher Dr. Neil Schluger told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Australian authorities have reported a spike in drug smuggling – but not the kind they usually deal with. Aussies are importing hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial medication used as a controversial antidote to Covid-19.
Read Full Article at RT.com

Meanwhile, a senior official at Zydus Cadila confirmed that the company is in the process of manufacturing the drug in large quantity.

A large-scale study in New York looking at the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine has cast further doubt on its effectiveness in the treatment of Covid-19 patients.Researchers at Columbia University observed nearly 1,400 patients at a large medical centre in New York City in March and April. They found hydroxychloroquine use led to neither a higher nor lower chance of patients ending up with intubation or death.“Our results cannot completely exclude the possibility of either modest benefit or…

WASHINGTON: A study performed in New York hospitals found no evidence of either harm or benefit from giving the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to severely ill coronavirus patients. “The risk of intubation or death was not significantly higher or lower among patients who received...

Hydroxychloroquine, the much-touted, much-maligned drug initially championed by President Trump as a “game changer” against the coronavirus, but which was later shown to have potential risks to patients, is still being used to combat the pandemic in hospitals across the country.

A new study has found that hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug recommended by President Trump as a possible treatment for coronavirus, does not help patients hospitalized with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

A team of scientists studied more than 1,300 patients admitted to a hospital for COVID-19

Additional donations of chloroquine sent to governments in numerous other countries / Various clinical and preclinical studies investigate the efficacy and adverse effects in COVID-19 infections / Bayer plans considerable expansion of production capacities in the event that the efficacy of chloroquine is proven for COVID-19

The FDA has released a safety communication reiterating the need for doctors to closely monitor COVID-19 patients who are treated with either hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) wrote a letter to Republican Arizona Governor Doug Ducey urging the wider use of hydroxychloroquine, based on data they have collected.

After his surprise removal from HHS’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority—a key agency partnered with pharma companies on COVID-19 drugs, vaccines and diagnostics—former Director Rick Bright is alleging whistleblower retaliation by HHS leadership. 

A manufacturer has announced plans to move production of hydroxychloroquine — currently being trialled as a COVID-19 treatment — to the UK from abroad to combat potential shortages.

To read the whole article click on the headline

The centre issued the order restricting the sale and distribution of Hydroxychloroquine to prevent its misuse. 

Hydroxychloroquine, a decades-old malaria drug touted by President Donald Trump, didn't appear to help hospitalized patients with Covid-19, according to a new observational study.

A consignment of hydroxychloroquine from India has reached the US, the global COVID-19 hotspot, days after New Delhi lifted a ban on the export of the anti-malarial drug to America and some other countries on humanitarian grounds to help them combat the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 1.7 million people have tested positive and 108,867 people have died from the novel coronavirus globally. The US has emerged as the global hotspot with 20,580 deaths and nearly 530,000 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University data. America has replaced Italy as the country with the highest number of COVID-19 deaths at 20,597, the data shows.

Earlier this week, India at the request of President Donald Trump cleared the export of 35.82 lakh tablets of hydroxychloroquine to the US along with nine metric tons of active pharmaceutical ingredient or API required in the manufacturing of the drug.

"Supporting our partners in the fight against COVID-19. Consignment of hydroxychloroquine from India arrived at Newark airport today (Saturday)," India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu tweeted. Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York.

Anticipating that it will work, given the initial positive results, Trump has bought more than 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine for potential treatment of COVID-19 patients. The arrival of consignment was welcomed by Americans.

"US will never forget this great humanitarian gesture by India. Under President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the two largest democracies of the world have come together than ever in the past,' said New York-based Al Mason, a real estate consultant and a Trump supporter. "A wonderful gesture by India to its friends in need," tweeted Dr Sampat Shivangi.

20,597
N. of deaths in the US

1,10,005
No. of deaths worldwide

Death toll in Europe passes 75,000

Over 75,000 people have died from the Coronavirus in Europe, with 80 per cent of the fatalities occurring in Italy, Spain, France and Britain, according to an AFP tally. With a total of 75,011 deaths from 909,673 infections, Europe is the hardest-hit continent in the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 1,10,000 people worldwide.

Stay put: Indian students in US told

India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu has advised the Indian students, stranded in America due to the sudden closure of universities and the ongoing lockdown back home because of the coronavirus pandemic, to stay where they are and assured them help in this crisis situation. Sandhu addressed the concerns of over 500 Indian students who attended the Instagram Live session hosted by the Indian Embassy on Saturday. There are an estimated 250,000 Indian students in the US, a significantly large numbers of whom are stranded due to the sudden closer of the universities and asked to vacate their hostels and follow stay-at-home order issued by the authorities. The Indian government imposed a 21-day nationwide lockdown from March 24 to stem the tide of the fast-spreading disease and also suspended rail, road and air services during the period. "At this time the most advisable thing to do is stay where you are," Sandhu said.

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The government of Nigeria has issued a warning over the use of chloroquine to treat COVID-19, after three people got overdosed, and hospitalized due to poisoning.

Hydroxychloroquine shows weak evidence of its effectiveness against coronavirus in the new study. The drug has been identified by the US Food and

The new review has described the growing skepticism regarding adoption of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 patients. The review is published in FASEB journal.

Accord Healthcare announced today it was importing 50 tonnes of raw chemical materials to its factory in Durham where it plans to produce the anti-malaria drug.

Preliminary results of New York state testing of hydroxychloroquine to treat some 600 coronavirus patients suggest those treated with the drug fare no better than those who did not receive it.

A Harvard University review found issues with each of 10 studies on hydroxychloroquine they examined. The drug can be immunosuppressive, which could be helpful or harmful for covid patients.

More than 90% of COVID-19 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine in studies in France and Boston had longer than normal pauses in their heart beats - a sign of dangerous arrhythmias.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) claimed that 91.6% of coronavirus patients treated with hydroxychloroquine fared better - but they cite many anecdotal reports.

A new study found that Google searches for chloroquine soared by more than 442% and those for hydroxychloroquine were up 1,389% after Musk and Trump praised the drugs.

Jeremy Corbyn's brother, Piers, has spearheaded an anti-lockdown protest where he claimed drug companies were 'suppressing information' on a cure for coronavirus 'because they want to impose a vaccine.'

The FDA made its warning against using hydroxychloroquine after several reports of abnormal heart rhythms and rapid heart rates in patients who took the medication.

While frantic efforts are underway to develop a vaccine and doctors all over try and control the spread of the disease for which there is yet no cure, hydroxychloroquine, or HCQ, has emerged as a prime focus area of treatment.

The study aims to collect sero-epidemiological data from 10,000 healthcare workers from Max Healthcare and Radiant Lifecare and study the effectiveness of HCQ as prophylaxis for COVID-19 infection.

Old anti-malarial drugs have shown mixed results in the small clinical trials conducted so far

Country will now allow exports if domestic needs are met to treat COVID-19

The antimalaria drug will be tested for treating or preventing the disease in thousands of people worldwide

Despite the hype, support for the use of chloroquine and its relative hydroxychloroquine outside a clinical trial remains mixed