Benzinga Pro's Stock To Watch For Wed., Mar. 25, 2020: AMRX

Benzinga Pro's Stocks To Watch For Wednesday

• Amneal Pharmaceuticals (AMRX) - Shares of this pharma and therapeutics maker rallied about 50% over the last five trading sessions as traders viewed the stock as a play on a controversial potential coronavirus treatment, hydroxychloroquine. Approved by the FDA for usage by patients treating malaria and lupus, President Trump has repeatedly touted the drug as a treatment for the coronavirus infection, COVID-19. But earlier clinical data on how effective hydroxychloroquine and its root chloroquine are in treating coronavirus has not been promising. In a recent study of 30 patients by a Chinese university, 13 of 15 who were given the drug as a treatment showed they didn't have the disease after a week of usage. For the remaining 15 patients in the study who did not receive the treatment, 14 no longer showed they had the disease. In addition, recent reports have suggested people may be misusing the drug without proper physician guidance in an attempt to try to prevent the coronavirus infection. The uncertainty about the drug as a potential treatment hasn't stopped companies like Amneal, Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA) and Roche (RHHBY) from accelerating distribution and production and donating supplies to health officials.