Trump presses FDA to fast-track potential coronavirus drugs

[March 20, 2020]    By Reuters Staff
 
 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday called on U.S. health regulators to expedite potential therapies aimed at treating COVID-19 amid the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak, saying it could lead to a breakthrough while a vaccine is still under development.

Kylene Karnuth, a clinical lab scientist, works with coronavirus samples as researchers begin a trial to see whether malaria treatment hydroxychloroquine can prevent or reduce the severity of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Craig Lassig

Trump, speaking at a news conference, pointed to efforts on Gilead Sciences Inc's experimental antiviral drug Remdesivir and the generic antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine, saying he had called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to streamline its regulatory approval process.

"We have to remove every barrier," Trump said.

Trials on potential coronavirus therapies are already in the works, and it was unclear how Trump's call for faster experimental testing process could further expedite an effective treatment.

"It could be a game changer or maybe not," Trump told reporters.

FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said his agency was working quickly to examine all possibilities.

"In the short term, we're looking at drugs that are already approved for other indications," Hahn said.

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