Macron Calls for Clinical Trials of Possible Coronavirus ’Cure’

By Staff, Agencies

French President Emmanuel Macron called for clinical trials of a controversial coronavirus “cure” as he hailed his country’s infection specialist who promoted it as a great scientist.

Macron said on Wednesday that he would like the treatment, which was backed by Didier Raoult, tested rigorously as soon as possible.

The treatment is a combination of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin.

Macron’s comments are likely to ignite fresh controversy over Raoult, whose research has been boosted by populist leaders, such as Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro, but which is regarded with skepticism by other members of the medical establishment.

“I’m convinced that he’s a great scientist, and I’m passionate about what he explained,” Macron told RFI radio.

Macron, who last week visited Raoult at his workplace, Marseille University hospital, qualified his praise with an admission that he remained “wary” about the treatment’s efficacy.

“It’s not for the president of the French republic to say what treatment is good and what isn’t. What I did in going to Prof Raoult’s office – and he is one of the leading experts in this area – was to make sure that what he is working on is within the framework of a clinical trial protocol. It’s not a question of belief, it’s a question of science,” Macron said.