FDA to investigate existing Malaria Drug Can Treat Coronavirus

President Donald Trump said Thursday he directed the Food and Drug Administration to investigate whether an existing drug for malaria can be used to treat the coronavirus.

There are no proven therapies for the COVID-19 virus, which has rapidly grown into a pandemic. U.S. health officials say a vaccine ready for public use could take 12 to 18 months. But some scientists have said the anti-malaria drug Chloroquine could be a treatment for the virus.

It is important “not to provide false hope,” FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said at the White House’s daily press briefing on the coronavirus. But Trump has “asked us to be aggressive” and “break through exciting, life-saving treatment, and we’re doing that at the FDA,” Hahn said.

The World Health Organization, however, said last month that there is “no proof” the drug is effective in treating the coronavirus.