FDA announces pursuit of drug treatments for COVID-19

On March 19, 2020 the FDA announced they will “Continues to Facilitate Development of Treatments” for COVID-19.

As directed by President Trump the FDA will “continue its work with the public and private sector to ensure the availability of potentially safe and effective life-saving drugs.”

“The FDA has been working closely with other government agencies and academic centers that are investigating the use of the drug chloroquine, which is already approved” for other conditions “to determine whether it can be used to treat patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 to potentially reduce the duration of symptoms…[and] … help prevent the spread of disease. Studies are underway to determine the efficacy in using chloroquine to treat COVID-19.”

“While there are no FDA-approved therapeutics or drugs to treat, cure or prevent COVID-19, there are several FDA-approved treatments that may help ease the symptoms from a supportive care perspective.”

There is no specific mention of out-patient early treatment studies – the focus was on hospitalised patients.