A Brief History of Chloroquine

FDA fast-tracks the drug, modeled after the natural substance quinine in cinchona bark, for use in COVID-19 clinical trials

Editor’s note: The nonprofit American Botanical Council (ABC) is disseminating this information to its members and other stakeholders in the medicinal plant community to provide historical insight into the ethnobotanical approach to drug discovery with respect to chloroquine and its derivative hydroxychloroquine. ABC is not recommending the use of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine, or any of the quinoline alkaloids on which these drugs are modeled, as treatments or for the prevention of COVID-19. This includes any naturally occurring botanicals with similar or related chemistries. Such recommendations must come from appropriate medical and regulatory authorities after appropriate testing is done. ABC emphasizes that the use of these drugs carries a substantial risk of adverse side effects. ABC has always supported the process of modern drug development from medicinal plant and fungal sources, insofar…