Trump: U.S. steps up developing therapies against COVID-19
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U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that the country is stepping up development of treatments for COVID-19 patients, including experiment on antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine and a blood-related therapy.
Addressing a White House briefing, Trump said that hydroxychloroquine is being administered to 1,100 patients in New York along with Z-Pak, or azithromycin.
“It’s very early yet. It only started two days ago. But we will see what happens,” he said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is also allowing the emergency use of a blood-related therapy called convalescent plasma, as an experimental treatment for seriously ill patients, Trump said.
The therapy involves taking blood plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19. New sick patients will be transfused with the blood to boost their immune systems, Trump said, adding that the early results are good.
Convalescent plasma that contains antibodies to the novel coronavirus is possibly effective against the infection, the FDA said in a news release.
To push more and faster testing, the FDA authorized on Friday a new test developed by U.S. medical devices company Abbott Laboratories.