France's Sanofi abandons trials of failed Covid-19 drug Kevzara

French pharma giant Sanofi announced Tuesday it was halting trials for its rheumatoid arthritis drug Kevzara after it failed to prove an effective treatment for Covid-19.

French pharma giant Sanofi is halting the trial of its Kevzara drug for serious Covid-19 cases after international Phase 3 clinical tests AFP/File

International Phase 3 clinical tests of the drug for serious cases of Covid-19 had proved inconclusive, with the most recent trials showing adverse effects including pneumonia infections and even death.

Sanofi, which produces the drug with its American partner Regeneron, said neither company anticipated further clinical tests of Kevzara for the treatment of Covid-19.

.@sanofi's IL-6 drug fails again in severe #COVID-19, company says no further development planned in the disease https://t.co/ex0nFsh1b0

— pharmaphorum (@pharmaphorum) September 1, 2020

"Although this trial did not yield the results we hoped for, we are proud of the work that was achieved by the team to further our understanding of the potential use of Kevzara for the treatment of Covid-19," said Sanofi's global head of research and development, John Reed.

Sanofi is one of several companies looking to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus, which has claimed more than 849,000 lives and crippled economies around the world.

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“We are committed to help combat the global pandemic, including developing vaccine candidates that can be manufactured at large scale," Reed said.

However scientists say it’s unlikely an effective vaccine will be made available by the end of the year.