COVID-19: NAFDAC Orders Production of Chloroquine For Clinical Trial

As efforts intensify in the search for a vaccine cure for Covid-19 , the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has ordered the manufacturing of Chloroquine for an emergency stock for possible clinical trial treatment of Coronavirus in the country.

In a statement to this effect,  Director-General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye on Monday morning, said the directive was a sequel to claims in some quarters that “Chloroquine, an old antimalarial is being repurposed for the clinical trial treatment of Coronavirus 2019-nCoV. ”

“In a very recent publication, chloroquine was reported in a press briefing by the State Council of China, indicating that chloroquine phosphate had demonstrated marked efficacy and acceptable safety in treating COVID-19 associated pneumonia in multi-center clinical trials conducted in China,” she noted

According to the NAFDAC boss, “The drug was first tested in vitro (in the lab) using standard assays to measure the effects on the cytotoxicity, virus yield and infection rates of 2019-nCoV. ”

“The drug was reported to function as antiviral at both the entry and post-entry stages of 2019-nCoV infection. Chloroquine has also recently been reported as potential broad-spectrum antiviral drug,” she added.

The statement read in part:”In a very recent publication, chloroquine was reported in a press briefing by the State Council of China, indicating that chloroquine phosphate had demonstrated marked efficacy and acceptable safety in treating COVID-19 associated pneumonia in multi-center clinical trials conducted in China.

” The study involved 10 hospitals in Wuhan, Jingzhou, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Ningbo, and 100 patients. The investigators reported that chloroquine phosphate is superior to the control in inhibiting pneumonia associated with COVID-19, and shortening the course of the disease.

Nigeria as at 30th of March, has recorded 111 cases of COVID19 with one death has been confirmed.