Drug companies ready to restart clinical trials of medicines for life-threatening conditions unrelated to coronavirus
British drug companies are ready to restart clinical trials of medicines for life-threatening conditions unrelated to coronavirus.
Haseeb Ahmad – boss of the UK arm of Swiss drugs giant Novartis and president of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry – told The Mail on Sunday that firms are discussing resurrecting trials after a year in which efforts were focused on battling the virus.
Battle: Novartis is entering the final stages of clinical trials of a potential new Covid treatment
He said: ‘Other clinical trials came to a bit of a pause and they need to be restarted.
‘We’re investigating medicines [for conditions other than Covid] where there is a high rate of mortality – there is a high level of urgency to restart those trials.’
Novartis is entering the final stages of clinical trials of a potential new Covid treatment.
A study of 432 patients globally, including in the UK, is evaluating a repurposed cancer drug which may prevent severe respiratory problems.
The results are expected within a few months.
Another Novartis study of a potential Covid treatment failed to progress from trials last month.