WHO to find results of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine's safety findings by mid-June

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already warned against the usage of the pill outside of a hospital setting, just seven days after it approved an emergency use authorisation for the drug.

After the global health body suspended the use of hydrochloroquine trials on coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-affected patients, the World Health Organisation on Tuesday stated that it will conduct a swift review on the anti-malarial drug HCQ by mid-June before a final decision is taken on the harm, benefit or lack of benefit of the drug.

"A final decision on the harm, benefit or lack of benefit of hydroxychloroquine will be made once the evidence has been reviewed by the Data Safety Monitoring Board. It is expected by mid-June." the WHO statement read.The WHO, in an official press release, had stated that the observational study by The Lancet noted the effects of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine on COVID-19 patients that have been hospitalised. During the study, "the authors reported that among patients receiving the drug, when used alone or with a macrolide, they estimated a higher mortality rate," the WHO release elaborated.

In view of this, the Executive Group of the Solidarity Trial has implemented a 'temporary pause' on the trial of the hydroxychloroquine arm, while agreeing to review a comprehensive analysis and critical appraisal of all evidence available globally. The safety data will be reviewed by the Data Safety Monitoring Board.

The Solidarity Trial was initiated by the WHO more than two months ago to evaluate the safety and efficacy of four drugs and drug combinations against COVID-19. Over 400 hospitals in 35 countries had been roped in to actively recruit patients and nearly 3500 patients had already been enrolled from 17 countries.

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already warned against the usage of the pill outside of a hospital setting, just seven days after it approved an emergency use authorisation for the drug.

Trump had told the media in a press conference that he has been taking the hydroxychloroquine for almost a week-and-half along with zinc. However, the drug was not explicitly recommended to him by them since he has not been tested positive for the virus.

Notably, India was also involved in this study, and the drug, which had been termed a 'game-changer' by India earlier, had been supplied to several foreign nations, including the US, Japan, Spain, Germany, and Brazil since it was in high demand globally.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been personally approached by world leaders for the HCQ drug, and the decision to release surplus medicine for export purposes was made by a group of ministers, taking in view the domestic requirements and domestic stock availability.