The CEO of French pharmaceutical company Sanofi said that the company will be able to produce millions of doses of hydroxychloroquine for patients of the emerging coronavirus if the old malaria drug is proven effective in clinical trials.
Powell Hudson, who took over as CEO in September, said in an interview with Reuters that the company was carrying out manufacturing operations with 93% capacity during the pandemic.
He added that Sanofi decided to increase the production of her medications to ensure that supplies are maintained for hospitals in Europe and the United States, at a time when she faces unprecedented pressure from patients who suffer from respiratory complications due to the outbreak, which may make health systems bear more than they can afford.
But he pointed out that the company is not operating at full production capacity, because workers who had symptoms of the disease and those who had been in contact with it were sent home for two weeks.
The company began producing all possible amounts of hydroxychloroquine in February after Chinese data indicated that a drug intended to treat malaria could help some Covid-19 patients.
Sanofi sells the drug, which has been in use since the 1950s, with a brand name that is Blackwineel in some countries.
Sanofi is also working on developing two possible vaccines for the disease and is testing the drug Kevzara used to treat rheumatism as a potential drug for Covid-19, a drug it manufactures with Regeneron.
The European Commission said there was no evidence yet that hydroxychloroquine was effective in healing Corona patients.