Category Archives: Repurposing Drugs

Remdesivir to the Rescue?

I have been hoping for a rational drug treatment for COVID based on science, not wishful thinking. One may be at hand!  Remdesivir is one of the first drugs that appears to be useful to treat Coronavirus infection. It is an antiviral drug, which means it specifically inhibits an activity that allows the virus toContinue reading “Remdesivir to the Rescue?”

Emergency Donation of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine phosphate; what does compassionate use mean?

Last night the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was given 30 million doses of hydroxychloroquine by Sandoz pharmaceuticals (Novartis) and 1 million doses of chloroquine phosphate by Bayer pharmaceuticals. These were donated to the US Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) for potential use in treating patients hospitalized with COVID-19, and for use in clinicalContinue reading “Emergency Donation of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine phosphate; what does compassionate use mean?”

Chloroquine continued….

Unfortunately my concerns were warranted about the push to repurpose approved drugs for COVID-19. A couple in Arizona decided to take chloroquine phosphate to prevent coronavirus infection and unfortunately the husband died from poisoning. He ingested the chemical itself, used to clean fish tanks(!), and not the formulated drug; however the same toxicity that killedContinue reading “Chloroquine continued….”

Seven reasons to be optimistic about the coronavirus pandemic

I thought I would end the week on a positive note! Despite the remarkable challenges we are facing there are reasons to be optimistic. Science, circumstances and even natures evolution may combine to make this event managable and something we can learn from for future pandemics. Here are seven reasons why the US could controlContinue reading “Seven reasons to be optimistic about the coronavirus pandemic”

The difficulties with repurposing approved drugs to treat coronavirus infection; or why we aren’t yet ready to give everyone chloroquine!

Executive Summary Many drugs approved to treat other diseases have been proposed to treat coronavirus infection. Some of these drugs block similar viral infections, while others treat inflammation from any cause which could reduce symptoms.  Repositioning approved drugs may allow shortening of the development cycle; however, there is no assurance they will work or beContinue reading “The difficulties with repurposing approved drugs to treat coronavirus infection; or why we aren’t yet ready to give everyone chloroquine!”