Sanofi has temporarily stopped recruiting new Covid-19 patients for two clinical trials on hydroxychloroquine and will no longer supply the anti-malaria drug to treat Covid-19 until concerns about safety are cleared up, Reuters quoted the company as saying on Friday.

The moves come after the World Health Organisation paused its large trial of hydroxychloroquine, prompting several European governments to ban the use of the drug, also used in rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

Sanofi has been conducting two randomised, controlled clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19.

The first was expected to test 210 patients in United States, France, Belgium and the Netherlands who were not in hospital and suffering from the early stage of the disease while the second focused on hospitalised patients with moderate to severe Covid-19 in Europe. It was planned to include around 300 patients.