TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Sanofi halts trial of COVID-19 drug after tests
Change Size
A photograph taken on March 27, 2020 shows a Sanofi's logo at the headquarters in Paris, during a strict lockdown in France aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 infection, caused by the novel coronavirus.Sanofi said Tuesday that international Phase 3 clinical tests of its Kevzara drug for serious COVID-19 cases had proved inconclusive and it was halting the trial. (AFP/Franck Fife )
F
rench pharma giant Sanofi said Tuesday that international Phase 3 clinical tests of its Kevzara drug for serious COVID-19 cases had proved inconclusive and it was halting the trial.
The Phase 3 test -- normally the last before official approval for use -- "did not meet the primary or secondary evaluation criteria compared with a placebo, and in both cases, compared with established hospital care," it said in a statement.
Sanofi said neither it nor its American partner in developing the drug, Regeneron, "envisage further clinical tests of Kevzara for the treatment of COVID-19."
Although Kevzara "did not give us the results we were hoping for, we are proud of the work done by our team," Sanofi global research head Dr. John Reed said in the statement.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic late last year in China, it has claimed more than 800,000 lives and caused huge economic damage, sparking a global race to find a vaccine and effective treatments.
Sanofi is one of many companies developing a vaccine but scientists are cautious in saying that at best, one may only be available by the end of this year for initial use.
