French pharma giant Sanofi has decided to donate 100 million doses of hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug which could be a potential medicine against covid-19.
The company has already increased its production capacity on top of the usual production for current indications across its eight hydroxychloroquine manufacturing sites worldwide and is on track to quadruple it by the summer.
Sanofi said in a statement that, “In this global health emergency, Sanofi stands ready to assist as many countries as possible, starting with countries where its medicine is registered for current approved indications as well as countries where there are no hydroxychloroquine suppliers or countries with underserved populations”
Chief Executive Officer Paul Hudson said that, “The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented health and economic crisis which is shaking some of the very fundamentals of international solidarity and cooperation among countries.This virus does not care about the concept of borders, so we should not either.”
“It is critical that international authorities, local governments, manufacturers and all other players involved in the hydroxychloroquine chain work together in a coordinated manner to ensure all patients who may benefit from this potential treatment can access it. If the trials prove positive, we hope our donation will play a critical role for patients,” Hudson further added.
Till date, there is no clinical evidence to draw any conclusion over the safety and effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine in the management of COVID-19 patients.
