Trump presses FDA to fast-track potential coronavirus drugs

Kylene Karnuth, a clinical lab scientist, works with coronavirus samples as researchers begin a trial to see whether malaria treatment hydroxychloroquine can prevent or reduce the severity of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Craig Lassig

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday called on U.S. health regulators to expedite potential therapies aimed at treating COVID-19 amid the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak, saying it could lead to a breakthrough while a vaccine is still under development.

Trump, speaking at a news conference, pointed to efforts on Gilead Sciences Inc's experimental antiviral drug Remdesivir and the generic antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine, saying he had called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to streamline its regulatory approval process.

From left; Research floor manager Jerry Daniel, research scientist Benjamin Auch and research scientist Cody Hoffmann in their new lab that is being transformed to fight the coronavirus at the University of Minnesota Genomics Center as a trial begins to see whether malaria treatment hydroxychloroquine can prevent or reduce the severity of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Craig Lassig

"We have to remove every barrier," Trump said.

Trials on potential coronavirus therapies are already in the works, and it was unclear how Trump's call for faster experimental testing process could further expedite an effective treatment.

"It could be a game changer or maybe not," Trump told reporters.

Researchers at the Microbiology Research Facility work with coronavirus samples as a trial begins to see whether malaria treatment hydroxychloroquine can prevent or reduce the severity of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Craig Lassig

FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said his agency was working quickly to examine all possibilities.

"In the short term, we're looking at drugs that are already approved for other indications," Hahn said.

U.S. President Donald Trump attends a teleconference with governors to discuss partnerships to ?prepare, mitigate and respond to COVID-19" at the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) amid coronavirus fears, in Washington, U.S. March 19, 2020. Evan Vucci/Pool via REUTERS