Anti Malaria drug Chloroquine is one of the drugs being tested to treat the novel coronavirus that has claimed the lives of over 3000 people, UK’s iNews reports.
Chloroquine according to the publication has potential antiviral activity and it has been used to treat pneumonia before. According to iNews:
Another candidate is chloroquine, an antimalarial also been seen to have potent antiviral activity. It is known that chloroquine blocks viral infection by increasing the pH of the endosome, which is needed for the fusion of the virus with the cell, thus inhibiting its entry. It has been demonstrated that this compound blocks the new coronavirus in vitro and it is already being used in patients with coronavirus pneumonia
Other drugs are being tested and trials are already underway.
More: iNews