Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis has received permission from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct randomized trials of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19, Reuters reported.

Earlier this month, the FDA authorized the use of this untested generic drug, developed several decades ago, for the treatment of coronavirus in emergency cases, but there is no scientific evidence of its effectiveness.

There are currently no approved medications for the COVID-19 treatment. In the coming weeks, Novartis plans to recruit 440 patients for the third phase of clinical trials from over a dozen locations in the US. Their results will be announced as soon as possible, the company said.

The use of a drug approved for the treatment of lupus and rheumatoid arthritis has increased dramatically after President Donald Trump supported it. Concerns are expressed that administration support for an untested medication for the treatment of COVID-19 has led the FDA to take a decision in this regard, bypassing the usual formalities.

“We recognize the importance of answering the scientific question of whether hydroxychloroquine will be beneficial for patients with COVID-19 disease,” said John Tsai, Novartis’s top drug developer. “We mobilized quickly to address this question in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.”

Companies such as Novartis, Roche and Gilead Sciences are testing existing drugs designed to treat other diseases for signs that they can be redesigned to fight the coronavirus epidemic.

Gilead Sciences recently expanded trials of its remdesivir drug for treating Ebola.

However, there are concerns that Trump and others' claims that hydroxychloroquine can dramatically change the situation with COVID-19 have pushed into the background information about the dangerous side effects of this drug, including loss of vision and heart problems.

Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan has also said the medicine is one of his biggest hopes against the viral epidemic.

Hydroxychloroquine is the subject of several studies in the US, including the University of Washington and the University of Minnesota, as well as at the National Institutes of Health.

A subsidiary of Novartis, Sandoz, which is engaged in the production of generics, has promised to donate 130 million doses of the drug. Sanofi pharmaceutical company also intends to donate 100 million doses of hydroxychloroquine to 50 countries.