On March 20, Novartis announced its commitment to donate up to 130 million doses of generic hydroxychloroquine to support the global COVID-19 pandemic response. Hydroxychloroquine and a related drug, chloroquine, are currently under evaluation in clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19. Novartis is supporting ongoing clinical trial efforts, and will evaluate needs for additional clinical trials.

When supported for use in COVID-19 infected patients by regulatory authorities, Novartis intends to donate up to 130 million 200 mg doses by the end of May, including its current stock of 50 million 200 mg doses. The company is also exploring further scaling of capacity to increase supply and is committed to working with manufacturers around the world to meet global demand.

The commitment announced on March 20th builds on the previously announced commitments of a USD 20 million Novartis COVID-19 Response Fund, drug discovery collaboration efforts, support of clinical trials for existing Novartis medicines, and the Sandoz commitment to maintain stable prices on a basket of essential medicines that may help in the treatment of COVID-19.