Didier Raoult, director of IHU Mediterranee Infection Institute | Gerard Julien/AFP via Getty Images Macron meets with controversial chloroquine doctor in Marseille Didier Raoult defends a controversial treatment for the coronavirus.

PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron unexpectedly flew to Marseille Thursday afternoon to meet with professor Didier Raoult, who has been pushing for a controversial chloroquine-based treatment for coronavirus.

Raoult has been touting the use of an antimalarial drug as a treatment for COVID-19, challenging health authorities who have been much more cautious about the use of chloroquine and its compounds as clinical trials have not proven its effectiveness.

Patients have lined up outside the hospital where he works in Marseille hoping to access his treatment, even though Raoult's initial results were based on a small sample of patients and not up to scientific standards for published studies — drawing criticism from the medical community.

Raoult shared with Macron his latest results, based on a larger sample of patients, according to an Elysée official.

“A visit doesn't legitimize a scientific protocol, a visit marks interest by the head of state, for the executive, for clinical trials, whether they are promising or not,” the official said.

Raoult has become a media sensation, with cult-like following.

Hydroxychloroquine is part of four treatments currently tested in an EU-wide clinical trial.

Officials in Macron's office denied he was getting ahead of the results of those clinical trials, bowing to popular pressure or politicizing the issue despite Raoult's lightning rod profile.

Instead they said his visit was part of wide consultations he is undertaking as he prepares a major speech on his lockdown exit strategy and coronavirus treatments on Monday evening.

Raoult has become a media sensation, with cult-like following. He has garnered strong supports among Macron's opponents, who use Raoult's name to criticize the crisis management from the French government.

No press pool was allowed to accompany Macron on his trip to Marseille, but a video posted on social media show medical staff at the hospital where Raoult works protesting during Macron's visit, demanding protective gear.