The Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey announced it has begun a clinical trial that will examine whether an anti-malaria drug doctors are administering as an off-label use to treat the coronavirus is more effective when taken with an antibiotic.

Clinical trials take year to complete. But Rutgers, a nationally recognized comprehensive cancer center, has the in-house expertise to move faster, said Rutgers Cancer Institute Director Steven K. Libutti, who is overseeing the trial.

“While some practitioners across the state have been offering this type of treatment for some individualized cases, it is imperative that a controlled clinical trial with a large patient population take place in order to ensure the integrity of the results being gathered," said Libutti, also the senior vice president for oncology services for the hospital chain RWJBarnabas Health.

New Jersey has the second-highest number of patients in the nation with the disease caused by the coronavirus, COVID-19, with 34,124 and 846 deaths.

Doctors are giving some of their COVID-19 patients hydroxychloroquine, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of malaria and autoimmune diseases like lupus.

Anecdotally, doctors say patients are recovering. Limited studies — one based on 42 patients in France, another with 30 patients in China — also shown some promise. But one of the University of Shanghai researchers Jun Chen told The Boston Globe’s STAT health news website that hydroxychloroquine “has never been effective in any viral diseases,” and said it is no “miracle drug.”

Azithromycin, FDA-approved for the treatment of infections, including those involving the respiratory tract, has also been prescribed for COVID-19 patients.

The Rutgers study will examine whether hydroxychloroquine alone or with Azithromycin is effective.

Eligible participants will be assigned randomly into three groups — one taking the anti-malaria drug only, one taking both and another provided "supportive care for six days followed by hydroxychloroquine. Treatment will last 10 days, with follow-up visits for six months to see if symptoms return

The trial will enroll 160 patients through the Rutgers Cancer Institute, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, and University Hospital in Newark. The need not be cancer patients, Libutti’s announcement said.

For information on how to take part in this clinical trial, call Rutgers Cancer Institute’s Office of Human Research Services at 732-235-7356 or email statewide_research@cinj.rutgers.edu.

More information about the outbreak may be found at the state Health Department’s website.

Correction: An earlier version of this story contained an inaccurate count on the number of fatalities from COVID-19. The total number reported on April 4, was 34,123.

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Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio.