WHO to trial malaria, arthritis drugs as COVID treatments

Three drugs will be added to the UN agency’s global trial to test their efficacy in patients hospitalised with COVID-19.

The World Health Organization (WHO) will test three new drugs as potential treatments for people in hospital with severe COVID-19 as it expands its global trial to 52 countries. The three treatments – artesunate, imatinib and infliximab – were selected by an independent expert panel for their potential in reducing the risk of death in hospitalised patients. Artesunate is currently used for severe malaria, imatinib for certain cancers, and infliximab for diseases of the immune system such as Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis. “Finding more effective and accessible therapeutics for COVID-19 patients remains a critical need, and WHO is proud to lead this global effort,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. The drugs were donated to the trial by the manufacturers.