Sanofi stops enrolling COVID-19 patients in hydroxychloroquine trials amid safety concerns

The moves come after the WHO paused its hydroxychloroquine trial after The Lancet reported patients getting the drug had increased death rates and irregular heartbeats

PARIS : Sanofi has temporarily stopped recruiting new COVID-19 patients for its two clinical trials on hydroxychloroquine and will not supply the anti-malaria drug to treat COVID-19 until concerns about safety are cleared up, it said on Friday.

The moves come after the World Health Organization paused its large trial of hydroxychloroquine after the British journal The Lancet reported patients getting the drug had increased death rates and irregular heartbeats.

That prompted several European governments to halt the use of the drug, promoted by US President Donald Trump.

It was not clear if the trial had also been temporarily stopped.

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