Following today’s news (Monday 15 June) that the FDA has pulled emergency use authorization of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19;

Johanna Swanson, Product Manager at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:

“GlobalData expects the number of withdrawn or terminated hydroxychloroquine clinical trials will increase in the coming month. This news leaves an uncertain fate for more than 133 planned and 187 ongoing clinical trials for hydroxychloroquine. Out of these, 121 trials are in Phase III, 101 trials are in Phase II, and 51 trials are in Phase IV. The top sponsors for these trials include the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, which is sponsoring ten trials, and Iran University of Medical Sciences, which is sponsoring five.

“Currently, there is no clinical evidence that hydroxychloroquine is effective against COVID-19. Multiple countries have been suspending or terminating clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine based on an increase of adverse events in those taking the drug, such as mortality and irregular heartbeat.”