The NEW GPC, in response to the outbreak of Covid -19 has ramped up the manufacturing of Chloroquine tablets, the local pharmaceutical company announced Wednesday night.
In a statement the New GPC said while there is no vaccine for the virus at this time and one is not expected for at least another year, Chloroquine is one of the drugs that have been cited as an effective treatment for Covid-19 that has inflicted hundreds of thousands of people around the world. The drug has tested favourably in the US, Italy, France, Japan and other European countries in the front line in battling the pandemic. Studies have shown that Chloroquine blocks the viral infection by increasing the endosomal ph needed for viral attachment.

Typical, is the report from the Deputy Head of China National Center for Biotechnology Development Mr. Sun Yanrong. He said that Chloroquine, an anti-malarial medication, was selected after several screening rounds of thousands of existing drugs. The studies evidenced ‘certain curative effect’ with ‘fairly good efficacy’ and patients treated demonstrated a better drop in fever, improvement of lung CT images, and required a shorter time to recover compared to parallel groups. No obvious serious adverse reactions were observed and reported in the more than 100 participants in the trials.

According to New GPC Chloroquine is a 70-year-old drug, which as mentioned earlier, is used to fight malaria and autoimmune diseases. It is safe to use and relatively cheap.

NEW GPC is licensed to manufacture this product and have been doing so for many years. This drug requires a doctor’s prescription. NEW GPC said it is the Caribbean’s largest manufacturer of pharmaceuticals. The Company manufactured antiretrovirals to address the HIV/Aids pandemic and Tamiflu to treat the outbreak of bird flu. NEW GPC is US FDA approved and is licensed by the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department. The production of Chloroquine by the NEW GPC would give a boost not only to the fight to control the effects of the COVID 19 virus, but also to give a boost to our local moribund economy. The Company has already received its first order from the Caribbean.