Why Are Scientists Still Studying Hydroxychloroquine?
So far, data on the drug hasn’t looked good. So why are so many clinical trials still ongoing?
Hydroxychloroquine has received a lot of attention as a potential therapy for Covid-19, including from the president. And yet study after study has produced lackluster results. Recently, three large studies, two in people exposed to the virus and one in people severely ill with the disease, showed no treatment or protective benefit from the drug.
This raises questions: Why are scientists still studying this drug? Wouldn’t it be better if the resources spent on these trials were shifted to other therapies that might actually work? At what point does the science community declare this particular pursuit a failure?
“I don’t understand the rationale for any more trials with the exception to finish the ones that [study it] as preventive since that is the one area that isn’t fully settled,” says Eric Topol, MD, the chair of Innovative Medicine at Scripps Research. “It’s very likely to be negative, but since they are ongoing [they can continue]. The rest should be stopped.”
While the argument to not launch new trials of hydroxychloroquine makes sense, stopping studies already in progress is more complicated. But experts say…
