Here is some very good news!
DRUGS APPROVED BY THE FDA
The Food and Drug Administration on Sunday issued an emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. The anti-virals, which have been around since 1955, are used for Malaria and some auto-immune diseases like Rheumatoid Arthritis.
The drugs have met with success in limited observational trials for the treatment of patients afflicted with Coronavirus.
The agency allowed the drugs to be “donated to the Strategic National Stockpile to be distributed and prescribed by doctors to hospitalized teen and adult patients with COVID-19, as appropriate when a clinical trial is not available or feasible,” HHS said in a statement.
Novartis Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan said his Sandoz generics unit’s malaria, lupus and arthritis drug hydroxychloroquine is the company’s biggest hope against the coronavirus, Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung reported on Sunday.
Other companies including Bayer and Teva have also agreed to donate hydroxychloroquine or similar drugs, while Gilead Sciences is testing its experimental drug Remdesivir against coronavirus.
“Pre-clinical studies in animals, as well as the first data from clinical studies, show that hydroxychloroquine kills the coronavirus,” Narasimhan told the newspaper. “We’re working with Swiss hospitals on possible treatment protocols for the clinical use of the drug, but it’s too early to say anything definitively.”
Also, a new blood test is coming out which will let us know who is immune.
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REMDESIVIR CAN NOW BE USED FOR ‘COMPASSIONATE USE’
The drugmaker said it’s switching to “expanded access” from a “compassionate use” program under which Remdesivir was given to more than 1,000 Covid-19 patients.
“With expanded access, hospitals or physicians can apply for emergency use of Remdesivir for multiple severely ill patients at a time,” Daniel O’Day, Gilead’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in an open letter sent by email Saturday. “While it will take some time to build a network of active sites, this approach will ultimately accelerate emergency access for more people.
THE QUICK TEST FOR WUHAN VIRUS THAT YOUR DOCTOR CAN GIVE
Abbott Labs, a private international company, will launch a molecular point-of-care test that can detect Coronavirus in as little as five minutes. It will be available next week and it is the second test meeting FDA approval.
It will deliver positive results in as little as five minutes and negative results in 13 minutes. The test will run on the company’s ID NOW™ platform, providing rapid results in a wide range of healthcare settings such as physicians’ offices, urgent care clinics, and hospital emergency departments.
It’s the size of a toaster and weighs 6.6 pounds.
“The COVID-19 pandemic will be fought on multiple fronts, and a portable molecular test that offers results in minutes adds to the broad range of diagnostic solutions needed to combat this virus,” said Robert B. Ford, president, and chief operating officer, Abbott. “With rapid testing on ID NOW, healthcare providers can perform molecular point-of-care testing outside the traditional four walls of a hospital in outbreak hotspots.”
Everyone won’t have to stand on line at a hospital.
HYDROXYCHOLORQUINE AS A PREVENTIVE
Another interesting change is India is recommending the prophylactic use of hydroxychloroquine to prevent infection.
India has officially recommended prophylactic use of hydroxychloroquine for health workers and families of confirmed positives.https://t.co/SUDqtityvq pic.twitter.com/XttLmdrebo
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) March 24, 2020
It also deserves mention that France no longer bans hydroxychloroquine.
My husband took it for Malaria and it was terrific for him.
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