19 May 2020 - - US-based pharmaceutical company Rising Pharma Holdings Inc is donating chloroquine to the US arm of the Chloroquine RepurpOsing to healthWorkers for Novel CORONAvirus mitigaTION (CROWN CORONATION) clinical trial, the company said.

The CROWN CORONATION trial has been funded by the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, a partnership of philanthropic organizations and individuals, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and Mastercard.

The trial is designed to evaluate the potential use of chloroquine to protect frontline healthcare workers from infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Conducted at multiple sites in North America, Europe, the UK and Africa, CROWN CORONATION will evaluate the protective potential of weekly, twice weekly or daily doses of chloroquine, when compared with placebo, in frontline healthcare workers at high risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2.

The trial's primary outcomes measures are the proportion of subjects in each group that develops symptomatic COVID-19 and the severity of COVID-19 if they do become infected.

Chloroquine Phosphate Tablets are indicated for the following; treatment of uncomplicated malaria due to susceptible strains of P. falciparum, P.malariae, P. ovale, and P.vivax; prophylaxis of malaria in geographic areas where resistance to chloroquine is not present; and for the treatment of extraintestinal amebiasis.

Rising Pharma Holdings sells generic prescription products and over-the-counter pharmaceutical products under the Rising label to leading wholesalers, chain drug stores, distributors, and mass merchandisers.

The company continually seeks new opportunities to develop its business through strategic partnerships with manufacturers, marketers, and distributors under the Rising label.

The COVID-19 Research Outcomes Worldwide Network (CROWN) Collaborative is an international group of health researchers and clinical trialists, supported by some of the world's leading research and healthcare institutions.