Trump and top US health officials are expanding access to potential coronavirus treatments

Andrew Dunn

Mar 19, 2020, 23:01 IST

Trump and top US health officials are expanding access to potential coronavirus treatments

Associated Press

President Donald Trump speaks during press briefing with the coronavirus task force, at the White House, Wednesday, March 18, 2020, in Washington, as Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Seema Verma, Vice President Mike Pence and Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, listen (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The US government is expanding access to a range of experimental treatments to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
President Donald Trump highlighted two drugs in particular at a Thursday press conference: remdesivir, an experimental antiviral developed by Gilead Sciences, and chloroquine, an old, generic anti-malaria pill.
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn said these drugs will be available via a compassionate use program. A compassionate use program is typically for critically ill patients with no other treatment options.
While Trump expressed optimism these drugs could be a "game changer," there still are no approved treatments or vaccines to treat or prevent COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump and top US health officials outlined plans to expand access to a range of experimental coronavirus treatments for Americans sickened by the novel coronavirus.

Trump spoke at a Thursday press conference, flanked by Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn and Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus response coordinator.

The president highlighted two drugs in particular: remdesivir and chloroquine, adding both have a "real chance" of working against the virus.

Remdesivir is an antiviral developed by Gilead Sciences, a large biotechnology company. Chloroquine is an anti-malaria pill that is an old, generic medication first approved in the US in 1949.

While anecdotal reports have come out suggesting both drugs have helped COVID-19 patients, there has yet to be any peer-reviewed clinical data showing the drugs work against the virus. Both drugs are in ongoing clinical trials around the world.

Trump said chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine will be available "almost immediately" by prescription. He said that has been approved by the FDA, taking the review process from several months to immediate.

Hahn, who runs the FDA, appeared to contradict that message. Hahn said these drugs will be available via compassionate use, which is not an FDA approval for a medication. The FDA didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Compassionate use programs are generally for terminally ill patients who have no other treatment options. Through the program, doctors can give patients treatments that have not been proven to be safe and effective.

Hahn said the agency will collect data from these compassionate use cases to make decisions on if these drugs are safe and effective against COVID-19.

"We need to make sure this sea of new treatments will get the right drug to the right patient at the right dosage at the right time," the FDA's leader said.

When asked about when remdesivir would be available to the market, Hahn said the agency is working closely with Gilead. Gilead has stated it expects clinical results in April from two trials in China.