During the 28-day trial, which involved 3,885 patients with lifethreatening Covid infection, 352 were given the drug and the rest had standard treatment. Just 16.8 percent in the drug group died compared to 25.9 percent in the standard care group.
Hydroxychloroguine, marketed as Plaquenil, regulates an overactive immune system, which was characterized as a "cytokine storm" during Covid infection. Patients who didn't receive it as part of their treatment had a 57 percent higher risk of death across all age groups in the study, the researchers said.
Hydroxychloroquine was championed by then president Donald Trump, who said he was given the drug to treat his own Covid infection, but a study—later found to be fraudulent—had claimed it was ineffective. Critics have claimed the
study was designed to fail as new vaccines cannot be fast-tracked if an effective treatment already exists.