Doctor behind Minnesota clinical trial for malaria drug that could potentially prevent coronavirus spread makes TV appeal to get 1,500 who have been exposed to COVID-19 to sign up
- Dr. David Boulware told Good Morning America that he had 150 out of the 1,500 people he needs for the trial
- He wants people who do not have symptoms but who have been exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19
- Half of the participants will receive hydroxychloroquine and half will receive a vitamin
- The doctors plan to study people over two weeks to determine if it is effective in stopping the spread of the virus
- President Trump said on Thursday that the anti-malaria drugs will be ‘almost immediately’ available to battle the virus
- Dr. Boulware and White House expert Anthony Fauci however say more testing needs to be done to prove they will be effective
- To find out more about whether or not you are eligible, visit the university’s website here or email [email protected]
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The University of Minnesota is asking 1,500 people to sign up to a clinical trial to determine if hydroxychloroquine, a malaria medication, is effective in treating coronavirus.
The trial is being led by Dr. David Boulware. He is asking for 1,500 people who have been recently exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19 to come forward to take part.
Ideally, they want to treat healthcare workers to hopefully provide a prevention from then catching the virus.
To qualify, they need to have been;
- Closely exposed to a person with confirmed COVID-19 disease within three days; AND,
- Are a household contact or a healthcare worker; AND,
- Do not have current symptoms of COVID-19 disease
To find out more about whether or not you are eligible, visit the university’s website here or email [email protected].
Dr. David Boulware appeared on Good Morning America on Friday to ask 1,500 people who have been exposed to the virus to sign up for the trial
Dr.Boulware appeared on Good Morning America on Friday to talk about the trial.
‘It has activity in a laboratory setting in a cell culture model against SARS and the new novel coronavirus so it in a lab setting, it has activity.
‘We’re looking at whether it can prevent infection,’ he said.
It would involve drugs being sent overnight to 1,500 people who want to participate.
Half would receive the malaria medication and half would receive a vitamin.
On Friday, Dr. Boulware said the president had become ‘very excited’ about the trial but that more needs to be done before it can be rolled out.
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
Chloroqine and hydroxychloroquine are commonly used to treat malaria and arthritis
However if it works, it could stop people from becoming infected within three days of being exposed.
The drug costs just $12 and has already been approved by the FDA for treating malaria and arthritis.
They want to sign up people with high risk exposure to see if they can stop them from catching it.
‘Health workers who have been exposed, or household contacts… high risk exposures and seeing if we can treat people in the first three days after their exposure to prevent them going on to develop the disease,’ he said.
So far, 150 people have signed up but the trial is seeking 1,500 participants.
Trump said on Thursday that there had been positive results after doctors trialed chloroquine on COVID-19 patients, and suggested the drug could be a game-changer.
From left; Research floor manager Jerry Daniel, research scientist Benjamin Auch and research scientist Cody Hoffmann in their new lab that is being transformed to fight the coronavirus at the University of Minnesota Genomics Center
‘It’s shown very, very encouraging early results. We’re going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately. It’s been approved,’ he said.
However, Dr Anthony Fauci said on CNN just a few hours later: ‘Let me put it into perspective for the viewers .. there has been anecdotal non-proven data that it [chloroquine] works… but when you have an uncontrolled trial you can never definitely say that it works’.
He repeated his caution on Friday in an interview with Today, saying: ‘Even though the information is anecdotal that they may work, we need to prove it so people would get the right drug that’s safe and effective.
‘What we’re saying is these are drugs that have some suggestion that they may work,’ he went on, but that controlled trials needed to be done to prove that they are effective.
The number of coronavirus cases in the US has dramatically increased in the last two weeks