Groningen hospital researching possible coronavirus medicine

Reserachers at the University Medical Center Groningen are working on a possible medicine against coronavirus Covid-19. They are trying to make two commonly used, safe and cheap malaria medicines suitable for an inhaler, so that the medicine can get deep into the airway and protect against infection there, NOS reports.

The two malaria medicines contain chloroquine. They are currently used in intensive care units around the world on critically ill Covid-19 patients, and appear to have a positive effect.

There have been no real scientific studies, but experiments were carried out on 100 people in China. About 70 of them responded favorably to the medicine, becoming less ill than people who did not get it. The medicine was tested on 25 people in France, with similar effect.

The Groningen researchers hope to know whether this experiment will work within four weeks. But then it first has to be approved by the authorities. If all goes extremely well, it will still be months before the medicine can enter the market.