The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Laxai Life Sciences Private Limited have started phase II clinical trials of the anti-helminitic drug niclosamide to treat COVID-19 patients. 

The randomized, open label clinical trial will determine the efficacy, safety and tolerability of the drug for the treatment of patients hospitalized for COVID-19. Ram Vishwakarma, advisor to Director General CSIR, stated that in an evaluation to identify drugs capable of inhibiting syncytia formation, niclosamide appeared as a potential repurposed drug by researchers from Kings College London. The syncytia or fused cells in the lungs of patients with COVID-19 appear to occur due to the fusogenic activity of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and this drugcan potentially inhibit the syncytia formation… (ET Healthworld – PTI, June 7, 2021)