Chloroquine may look promising in a test tube, but “I'm skeptical it will be effective” in patients, he said Thursday in a call with reporters. Remdesivir interferes with virus reproduction and has shown some promise in lab and animal studies against other coronaviruses that cause similar diseases, MERS and SARS. They recovered, but it's impossible to know whether they would have anyway without the drug. "We desperately need the data" on this and other drugs being tested in rigorous scientific studies, Fauci said. "We've got to be able to determine if they work and if they're safe."

Source: International New York Times March 19, 2020 20:48 UTC