The Chloroquine Story in the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The emergence of COVID-19 has caused worldwide concern due to its high infectivity and mortality. Research groups around the world have prioritised drug development against COVID-19. Repurposing of already approved drugs, including the antimalarial drug chloroquine, has attracted considerable attention. The aim of this article is to (i) provide an overview of the recent chemical methods used to synthesise chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, and (ii) provide insight into the data collected in 2020 on their efficacy against COVID-19. Unfortunately, the promising early results have not been confirmed and a clear and unambiguous conclusion on their clinical efficacy has not yet been drawn.
Pojava COVIDA-19 uzrokovala je globalnu zabrinutost zbog visoke zaraznosti i mortaliteta. Stoga je razvoj lijekova protiv COVIDA-19 postao prioritet istraživačkim skupinama diljem svijeta. Pri tom je posebnu pozornost privukla moguća prenamjena prethodno odobrenih lijekova, uključujući i antimalarijski lijek klorokin. Cilj ovog rada je (i) prikazati pregled recentnih kemijskih metoda primijenjenih za sintezu klorokina i hidroksiklorokina te (ii) dati uvid u podatke o njihovoj učinkovitosti protiv COVIDA-19 prikupljene tijekom 2020. Nažalost, početni obećavajući rezultati nisu potvrđeni, a jasni i nedvosmisleni zaključci o kliničkoj učinkovitosti klorokina i hidroksiklorokina još nisu postignuti.