Novartis CEO Backs Malaria Drug Against COVID-19

Also Testing Jakavi, Gilenya And Ilaris

A coronavirus vaccine is some way off and until then, Vas Narasimhan, head of Novartis, is thinking that of the drugs being repurposed to treat COVID-19, hydroxychloroquine looks best placed to provide the quickest benefit.

Vas Narasimhan
Vas Narasimhan • Source: Novartis

Novartis AG CEO Vas Narasimhan has thrown his weight behind the antimalarial hydroxychloroquine as potentially the best option to tackle the symptoms of the coronavirus in the short term.

His support came as the Swiss major's generics and biosimilars division Sandoz started to ship a consignment of 30 million...

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