Experimental therapy "could have been an opportunity" to help Charlie Gard, but it is too late to start care for the critically ill baby, a Vatican paediatric hospital chief said.
Bambino Gesu Hospital had offered to treat the 11-month-old boy while his parents were trying to persuade UK courts to tell Great Ormond Street Hospital in London to release the boy for treatment in the United States.
Hospital chiefs said in a statement that they are not in a position to know what might have happened six months ago and cannot know if Charlie would have responded to the experimental therapy.
Hospital director Mariella Enoc told reporters that they carried out a clinical evaluation and offered medical assistance free of charge.