Laurus Labs, one of the world's largest manufacturers of anti-HIV drugs on March 27, said it will supplying anti-malarial drug Hydroxychloroquine to its US partner Rising Pharma Holdings to test as a preventive treatment for novel coronavirus, or COVID-19.
The company has received an approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) to market Hydroxychloroquine Sulphate tablets.
Rising Pharma has partnered with the Division of Infectious Disease and International Medicine at the University of Minnesota on a clinical trial exploring hydroxychloroquine as preventive therapy for COVID-19.
The trial is being led by internationally recognised infectious disease expert David Boulware, MD, MPH and his research team among 1,500 healthcare workers or household contacts exposed to COVID-19. In non-human studies, researchers have identified two medicines, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, as having activity against SARS-coronaviruses.
Hydroxychloroquine is a medication used for the prevention and treatment of certain types of malaria, as well as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and porphyria cutanea tarda.
Commenting on the same, Vimal Kavuru, CEO of Rising Pharma said, “We started talking to the University of Minnesota just over a week ago and have fast tracked our efforts to support this critically needed study. We are actively supporting research in this area to help build better clinical guidelines.”
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