French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi has said it would offer 100 million doses of hydroxychloroquine to governments worldwide if studies show it can safely be used to treat Covid-19 patients.

Both hydroxychloroquine, which Sanofi sells under the brand name Plaquenil, and the related compound chloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, are being studied worldwide as potential weapons in the coronavirus fight.

Sanofi acknowledged that "interpretations of the available preliminary data on hydroxychloroquine in the management of Covid-19 differ widely but chief executive Paul Hudson said in a statement that "if the trials prove positive, we hope our donation will play a critical role for patients".

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