Dr. Ghassan Saed, an Associate Professor of Gyn Oncology, Director of Ovarian Cancer Research, and a Member of Molecular Therapy Program at the Departments of Ob/GYN and Oncology at Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne State University School of Medicine explains how chloroquine, a weak base, works at the cellular level:
“An acidic environment is favorable for the virus to replicate. Raising the pH will inhibit the transcription of the RNA. Another mechanism by which chloroquine works is by enhancing the entry of zinc into the cell. Zinc is a well-known inhibitor for RNA polymerase”.