UW Trial Finds Hydroxychloroquine Has No Effect On COVID-19

SEATTLE — It's time to put hydroxychloroquine to rest, UW Medicine says.

Hydroxychloroquine is a drug used to treat malaria caused by mosquito bites, or treat arthritis. But early in the pandemic, the drug frequently made headlines as a potential treatment or cure for COVID-19. It was a particular favorite of then-President Donald Trump, who frequently spoke and tweeted about the drug's supposed effectiveness against the coronavirus.

But UW Medicine says their latest study is the final nail in the coffin for that line of thinking.

The results have been a long time coming: the trial started at the end of last March, just as the hydroxychloroquine hype was beginning to build.

“The world was at a desperate moment and people were jumping to conclusions,” said Christine Johnston, an infectious disease doctor with UW.

Between March and August, researchers studied 231 trial participants with COVID-19. Half were given hydroxychloroquine and half received a placebo. But researchers quickly found, it didn't matter which they got.

“There was no faster resolution of symptoms among people receiving hydroxychloroquine or hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin compared to placebo.” Johnston said.

UW Medicine says the results are consistent with several other randomized trials, all of which show that hydroxychloroquine had no benefit in either inpatient or outpatient settings. Though their study ultimately didn't lead to new treatments for COVID-19, Johnson says it did show how quickly science can help further our understanding of new challenges.

“Science has led the way to get these studies up and running. And science has provided the evidence-base to treat these infections well,” Johnston said.