British drug companies are ready to restart clinical trials of medicines for life-threatening conditions unrelated to coronavirus. 

Haseeb Ahmad – boss of the UK arm of Swiss drugs giant Novartis and president of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry – told The Mail on Sunday that firms are discussing resurrecting trials after a year in which efforts were focused on battling the virus. 

Battle: Novartis is entering the final stages of clinical trials of a potential new Covid treatment

Battle: Novartis is entering the final stages of clinical trials of a potential new Covid treatment

Battle: Novartis is entering the final stages of clinical trials of a potential new Covid treatment

He said: ‘Other clinical trials came to a bit of a pause and they need to be restarted. 

‘We’re investigating medicines [for conditions other than Covid] where there is a high rate of mortality – there is a high level of urgency to restart those trials.’ 

Novartis is entering the final stages of clinical trials of a potential new Covid treatment. 

A study of 432 patients globally, including in the UK, is evaluating a repurposed cancer drug which may prevent severe respiratory problems. 

The results are expected within a few months. 

Another Novartis study of a potential Covid treatment failed to progress from trials last month.

#fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle#mobile {display:none} #fiveDealsWidget {display:block; float:left; clear:both; max-width:636px; margin:0; padding:0; line-height:120%; font-size:12px} #fiveDealsWidget div, #fiveDealsWidget a {margin:0; padding:0; line-height:120%; text-decoration: none; font-family:Arial, Helvetica ,sans-serif} #fiveDealsWidget .widgetTitleBox {display:block; float:left; width:100%; background-color:#af1e1e; } #fiveDealsWidget .widgetTitle {color:#fff; text-transform: uppercase; font-size:18px; font-weight:bold; margin:6px 10px 4px 10px; } #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {float:left; display:block; width:124px; margin-right:4px; margin-top:5px; background-color: #e3e3e3; min-height:200px;} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {margin-right:0} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle {display:block; margin:10px 5px; color:#000; font-weight:bold} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage img {float:left; display:block; margin:0; padding:0} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {border:1px solid #ccc} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage img {width:100%; height:auto} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemdesc {float:left; display:block; color:#004db3; font-weight:bold; margin:5px;} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemRate {float:left; display:block; color:#000; margin:5px} #fiveDealsWidget .footerText a:hover{text-decoration: underline;} #fiveDealsWidget .footerSmall{font-size:10px; padding-top:10px;} @media (max-width: 635px) { #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {width:19%; margin-right:1%} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {width:20%} } @media (max-width: 560px) { #fiveDealsWidget #desktop {display:none;} #fiveDealsWidget #mobile {display:block!important} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {background-color: #fff; height:auto; min-height:auto} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {border-bottom:1px solid #ececec; margin-bottom:5px; padding-bottom:10px} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {border-bottom:0px solid #ececec; margin-bottom:5px; padding-bottom:0px} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem, #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {width:100%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {float:left; display:inline-block} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {width:35%; margin-right:1%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent {width:63%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle {margin: 0px 5px 5px; font-size:16px} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent .dealItemdesc, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent .dealItemRate {clear:both} }

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk

You May Also Like

I won £800k after playing the lottery for first time at 69… but I’m not moving anywhere – I live on treasure island

A GRANDMA won £800k after playing the lottery for the first time…

Darktrace ‘in the clear’ after auditors hand the cyber security firm a clean bill of health following five-month fraud review

Darktrace has been given a clean bill of health following allegations of…

I’m 47 and I live mortgage free after giving up a two-bed house for a park home – would you do it too?

TUBE engineer Alex Russell lives in the lush Surrey Hills countryside where…

The cars most likely to be stolen: Motors most targeted by thieves are revealed and they’re NOT luxury Ferraris or Porsches – but will YOUR insurance actually pay out?

Thefts of Ford vehicles now account for nearly one fifth of UK…