Israeli company donating to US over 6 million doses of potential coronavirus cure

(Worthy News) – Israeli pharmaceutical company Teva is donating to US hospitals over 6 million doses of hydroxychloroquine sulfate, a medicine that may cure patients of COVID-19. Already approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating malaria, lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis, the drug raised hopes after a study in France found it had killed the virus in 26 patients.

“Immediately upon learning of the potential benefit of hydroxychloroquine, Teva began to assess supply and to urgently acquire additional ingredients to make more product while arranging for all of what we had to be distributed immediately,” Brendan O’Grady, Teva Executive Vice President, said in a statement.

The ability of hydroxychloroquine sulfate to cure COVID-19 is not yet conclusive. White House coronavirus task force member Anthony Fauci said reports that the medicine may help are anecdotal and further studies must be carried out. Indeed, the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center in China conducted a study on 30 patients with coronavirus and found that there was no statistical difference in how the virus behaved in those who had been given the medicine and those who had not.

However, although the FDA has confirmed hydroxychloroquine sulfate is not an approved treatment for COVID-19, US physicians are allowed to try the medicine on patients if they consider it might work. Doctors in New York have already been giving the drug to patients in efforts to fight the coronavirus.

Speaking at a White House press conference on March 19, President Trump said hydroxychloroquine sulfate had shown “very, very encouraging early results” and “we’re going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately.”

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