Brazil Pharma Giant Starts Study on Drug Touted by Trump

Brazil pharma giant EMS kicked off a large-scale study on the use of antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus as the pandemic spreads across Latin America.

EMS is studying the use of the drug combined with antibiotic azithromycin on about 1,000 patients with severe and moderate cases of the respiratory disease, Roberto Amazonas, the head of Medical Affairs at EMS, said in an interview. The drug will also be given on its own to 1,300 people with mild cases of the disease, he said.

“What we’re trying to find is scientific data that backs the use of the drug, to ...