Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn struck a cautious tone on two drugs that President Trump has touted enthusiastically, saying they “may have some benefit” but stopping short of issuing a formal recommendation for their use.
Speaking with Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Monday evening, Hahn, a medical doctor and member of the White House coronavirus task force, said early data suggests that an anti-malarial drug touted by Trump could help coronavirus patients but added that more research is needed.
“We do have data from other countries we are looking at and specifically one trial from France, which suggests we might have some benefit for hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine against the COVID-19 disease,” Hahn said. Published two days ago, the medical trial in question yielded promising results among 36 COVID-19 patients in Marseille, France.
“We do not have a full set of science and data to make recommendations definitively about what is safe and effective for the American people,” Hahn added.
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Researchers in France issued a statement on Sunday that detailed their trial results, three days after the president said that experimental drugs such as hydroxychloroquine would be available to COVID-19 patients. The study from IHU Méditerranée Infection in Marseille combined the anti-malarial hydroxychloroquine with antibiotics.
The drug was first tested for use against COVID-19 by Chinese Academy of Sciences researchers in Wuhan, who published their results earlier this month.
The president has said he is “a fan” of the treatment, but the promise of a miracle coronavirus drug has drawn caution from keys members of Trump’s public health team.
After Trump touted two potential drugs in a briefing last Thursday, Hahn clarified that they would be available for “compassionate use,” when a doctor can prescribe experimental drugs outside of clinical trials.
On Friday, after Trump said he had a “good feeling” about hydroxychloroquine, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci echoed Hahn and said that while he shared the president’s optimistic outlook, the drug still needed to be tested to show its efficacy against COVID-19.
The anti-malarial could be “one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine,” Trump tweeted on Sunday, adding that combined with an antibiotic, it should “be put in use immediately.”
HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains – Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH (H works better with A, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents)…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2020
“A great early result,” Trump said in a tweet on Monday, when he shared the story of one man’s recovery after a doctor administered him the treatment.
A great early result from a drug that will start tomorrow in New York and other places! #COVIDー19 https://t.co/4F4Qk4WFtK
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2020
A vaccine is further away.
In a press briefing on Monday, task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said to expect three waves of COVID-19 infection: the current wave, a second in 2021, and a third in 2022. Birx said that the United States could expect vaccines by the 2021 season.
