US President Donald Trump touted two possible drugs to treat coronavirus during the daily White House briefing on Thursday.
The President announced that he has directed the Food and Drug Administration to “eliminate outdated rules and bureaucracy” to help speed up the pace of testing drugs that could help treat the symptoms of COVID-19, and discussed two specific drugs as “essentially approved” for use against the virus.
But, as ABC reports, while the drugs are being used in clinical trials and in some limited cases as off-label experimental use, the FDA has not officially endorsed any as safe and effective against COVID-19, saying more data and study is needed before making a decision.
“Those are two that are out now, essentially approved for prescribed use,” Trump said of the antiviral drug Remsdesivir, which has never been approved by the FDA for any disease, and the drug chloroquine, which is used to treat malaria and some arthritis.
“And I think it’s going to be very exciting. I think it could be a game changer. And maybe not. Maybe not, but I think it could be, based on what I see, it could be a game changer. Very powerful, they’re very powerful,” he said of the two drugs.
FDA Commissioner Steven Hahn clarified that the agency is still looking at data around numerous drugs to determine if they can be used to treat COVID-19, saying that even if the drugs show promise they need to determine the right dosage and best time for it to be administered safely.
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