3 ms·
Does anyone know how quickly the production of Chloroquine Phosphate and Hydroxychloroquine can be ramped up (say, to the tune of 500M people * 7g per "course"
by viggity 7y ago
Does anyone know how quickly the production of Chloroquine Phosphate and Hydroxychloroquine can be ramped up (say, to the tune of 500M people * 7g per "course" = 3.5 million kilograms?
I tried finding out how much chloroquine is prescribed world wide per year, but couldn't find it. It may give us a clue into how much is already being used.
I know that it isn't used except for pregnant women as a malaria treatement because the first line antimalarials aren't proven save in pregnancy, but also that the malaria protozoa has some resistence to Chloroquine in many countries (Ecuador, among others)
- oli5679 7y agoLuckily we make a lot of tonic water!
- semi-extrinsic 7y agoNot a medicinal chemist, but here is an overview of the synthesis routes we know of: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/chloroquine https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/chloroquine From this, it doesn't look like there are any major hurdles in the necessary precursors. E.g. chloroaniline is very commonly used for making many drugs (incl. chlorhexidine), methyl acrylate is similarly in the six-figure-tonnes-per-year category, and that diamine also looks to have a nice synthesis route. Fingers and toes crossed for this one.
- jjjensen90 7y agoFrom what I understand, it is a very cheap and easy drug to manufacture, having been designed for mass production in a previous era, as well as being a relatively simple chemical formula (some hydrocarbons, amines, a chloride?).
- pbreit 7y agoI don't know. But there's more than enough available now. https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/bayer-preps-u-s-donation-malaria-med-chloroquine-to-help-covid-19-fight-report https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/bayer-preps-u-s-donation...