As India allowed the export of Hydroxychloroquine, a key anti-malarial drug believed effective in the treatment of Coronavirus, a consignment of hydroxychloroquine from the country had arrived in the US at Newark airport on Saturday.

India’s Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu tweeted, “Supporting our partners in the fight against COVID-19. Consignment of hydroxychloroquine from India arrived at Newark airport today (Saturday).”

Supporting our partners in the fight against #Covid19. Consignment of hydroxichloroquine from India arrived at Newark airport today. pic.twitter.com/XZ6utQ6JHr

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— Taranjit Singh Sandhu (@SandhuTaranjitS) April 11, 2020

As the US acquired 29 million doses of Hydroxychloroquine from India, earlier this week, India at the request of President Donald Trump cleared the export of 35.82 lakh tablets of hydroxychloroquine to the US along with nine metric tons of active pharmaceutical ingredient or API required in the manufacturing of the drug.

President Trump, during a phone call last week, asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lift the hold on American order of the anti-malarial drug, of which India is the major producer. India, which manufactures 70 per cent of the world’s supply of hydroxychloroquine, lifted the ban on April 7.

Earlier on Monday, hours before India made its decision official to lift ban on export of essential drugs, President Trump in an apparent warning had said that “there may be retaliation” if India does not agree to export Hydroxychloroquine.

Trump further said he would be surprised if the Indian Prime Minister did not allow it.

However, on Tuesday, India sought to discourage attempts to politicise the matter and said that it “will supply essential drugs to some nations badly affected” by COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said given the enormity of the COVID-19 pandemic, India has always maintained that the international community must display strong solidarity and cooperation.

Hydroxychloroquine has been approved by the national task force of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) as a prophylaxis – a treatment to prevent a disease – for people at “high risk” of contracting COVID-19. However, it is recommended only for a healthcare worker who is treating a COVID-19 patient. Secondly, it is recommended only for persons staying and caring for a household positive patient. They can take that only for ‘prophylaxis’, or prevention.

Meanwhile, in the US hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York.

Ever since the deadly virus spread across nations, Hydroxychloroquine has become one of the most highly demanded drugs worldwide. India, the world’s main supplier of generic drugs, has been finding it difficult to cope with the requests for Hydroxycholoquine received from nearly 30 nations.

Hydroxychloroquine tablet is used to prevent and treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, among other ailments.

Trump has bought more than 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine for potential treatment of COVID-19 patients, as a potential treatment against Coronavirus, given initial positive results,

The arrival of consignment was welcomed by the Americans.

Meanwhile, according to a new French study of 1,061 hospitalised COVID-19 patients showed a 91.7 per cent cure (viral shedding) within 10 days of hydroxychloroquine treatment along with anti-biotic. It also reported a 96 per cent cure rate after 15 days.

Early this week, the National Institute of Health reported that a clinical trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of adults hospitalised with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has begun, with the first participants now enrolled in Tennessee.

Hydroxychloroquine is used to treat malaria and rheumatoid conditions such as arthritis. In various studies, the drug has demonstrated antiviral activity, an ability to modify the activity of the immune system, and has an established safety profile at appropriate doses, leading to the hypothesis that it may also be useful in the treatment of COVID-19, NIH said.

The drug is not without risks as even short-term use can cause cardiac arrythmias, seizures, dermatological reactions, and hypoglycemia, it added.

“Many US hospitals are currently using hydroxychloroquine as first-line therapy for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 despite extremely limited clinical data supporting its effectiveness,” said Wesley Self, emergency medicine physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and PETAL Clinical Trials Network investigator leading the ORCHID trial.

“Thus, data on hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19 are urgently needed to inform clinical practice,” he added.

According to NIH, participants will be randomly assigned to receive hydroxychloroquine 400 mg twice daily for two doses (day one), then 200 mg twice daily for the subsequent eight doses (days two to five) or a placebo twice daily for five days.

The United States is most affected by COVID-19 in the world  with 20,000 deaths and 5.3 lakh positive cases.

Meanwhile globally, more than 16 lakh people have tested positive and more than one lakh fatalities have been reported so far.