Novartis has won the go ahead from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct a randomised trial of malaria drug hydroxychloroquine against Covid-19, the Swiss drugmaker said, according to Reuters.
The decades-old generic medicine got FDA emergency use authorisation this month for its unapproved use for the coronavirus, but so far there is no scientific proof it works.
Novartis plans to start recruiting 440 patients for its trial at more than a dozen US sites. Results will be reported as soon as possible, the company added.
