TEVA - FDA: You Can Use Chloroquine to Treat COVID-19; EU Regulators: Not Just Yet
Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine aren't approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, but the agency has granted an emergency-use authorization for the drugs, which were originally developed to treat malaria.
In Europe however, regulators are taking more of a wait-and-see approach, suggesting doctors only prescribe the drugs to patients taking them for the diseases they're approved for. Hydroxychloroquine, which is less potent but safer than chloroquine, is also used for autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
"Prescriptions should not be given outside their authorised uses except in the setting of a clinical trial or nationally agreed protocols," the European Medicines Agency said in a statement.