June 05, 2020
Bulletin interne de l'Institut Pasteur
Preclinical trial shows that hydroxychloroquine has no in vivo antiviral effect on SARS-CoV-2
The results of a trial on the effects of hydroxychloroquine, both on its own and associated with azithromycin, in an experimental model of infection with SARS-CoV-2 – the infectious agent responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic – in macaques have been published as a preprint on the Research Square platform and submitted to the journal Nature. The trial, involving scientists from the CEA, Inserm, the Institut Pasteur, Paris-Saclay University, AP-HM, Claude Bernard University Lyon 1 and Aix-Marseille University, was conducted under the aegis of the multidisciplinary "REACTing" consortium.
Launched in February 2020, the trial was designed to assess the potential in vivo antiviral effect of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) on the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as a prophylactic treatment (before infection, to reduce the viral load) and as a treatment during the first few days after infection. The potential anti-inflammatory effects of HCQ were not analyzed.