WHO resume trial of Trump’s antimalarial
THE World Health Organisation is to resume a trial into a controversial Covid-19 treatment after suspending it over safety concerns flagged in a paper published in a leading medical journal.
The WHO announced it would resume a trial into hydroxychloroquine after The Lancet admitted there were “serious scientific questions” surrounding the data in a paper it published on the treatment last month.
The Lancet said the treatments had no benefits and may even put patients at risk of dying, leading the WHO to suspend its trial into the treatments. The leaders of a Uk-based trial vowed to continue, saying they were confident their study was safe.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’S director-general, said its experts had advised the continuation of all trials including hydroxychloroquine.
“The executive group will communicate with the principal investigators in the trial about resuming the hydroxychloroquine arm of the trial,” Dr Tedros said.
The WHO’S decision suspend its trial prompted others to follow suit, including Sanofi. A Sanofi spokesman said the company would reassess its position following the WHO’S latest decision yesterday.
In a statement, The Lancet acknowledged “important” questions over the research, after dozens of scientists issued an open letter last week raising concerns about the methodology and transparency around the data, which was provided by the firm Surgisphere.
An investigation by The Guardian found that few of Surgisphere’s employees had a scientific or data background. One was a sciencefiction writer and another an adult-content model, the paper reported.
Martin Landray, professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Oxford and leader of the Recovery trial, said an observational study was a “wholly inadequate method” of making decisions on the harms and benefits of drugs.
He added: “The sooner we get answers from randomised controlled trials, the better. If it turns out hydroxychloroquine is effective for Covid-19, then let’s use it; if not, abandon it.”