Indonesia produces anti-malaria drug chloroquine to treat Covid-19

A lab technician handles coronavirus test samples at Mayo Clinic Laboratories in Rochester, Minnesota. - AFP

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/ANN): President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo said on Monday (March 23) that Indonesia secured a supply of chloroquine, an anti-malaria drug being tested as a possible form of treatment for Covid-19, as countries scramble to stock drugs and medical supplies to fight the disease.

Jokowi said state-owned pharmaceutical company PT Kimia Farma produced the drug, which is extracted from the cinchona tree, a common plant in the country.