AMRX - Amneal Ramping Up Malaria Drug Production to Treat Coronavirus Patients
Amneal Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: AMRX) announced on Friday that it would be ramping up production of its malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine sulfate, for potential use in treating COVID-19 patient symptoms. The company estimates that it will be able to manufacture around 20 million tablets of the drug in a month's time.
Hydroxychloroquine sulfate is a malaria drug first created back in 1946. Since then, its been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat a number of other conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and a variety of autoimmune diseases. The U.S. government has asked Amneal to make sure adequate supplies of the drug are prepared, with President Trump touting the drug's potential as a potential treatment for COVID-19.
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