12 August 2021

Hanna Sarkkinen, Finland’s Minister of Social Affairs and Health

 

Link to the source article >> https://healthpolicy-watch.news/three-potential-covid-19-therapeutics-start-trials/

Three medicines currently being used to treat malaria, cancer and immune deficiencies are being tested on hospitalised patients with COVID-19 to see whether they can be repurposed to address the virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday.

“These therapies – artesunate, imatinib and infliximab – were selected by an independent expert panel for their potential in reducing the risk of death in hospitalized COVID-19 patients,” said the WHO.

Artesunate is currently used to treat severe malaria, imatinib treats certain cancers, and infliximab is used against diseases of the immune system, including Crohn’s Disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

The medicines will be tested as part of the next phase of the WHO’s Solidarity trial platform, Solidarity PLUS, which “represents the largest global collaboration among WHO Member States”, according to the global body.

“The trial involves thousands of researchers at more than 600 hospitals in 52 countries,” WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing on Wednesday.

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