Japanese flu drug Favipiravir is “clearly effective” in treating Covid-19, medical authorities in China say.
Favipiravir (Avigan) is effective in coronavirus patients – The most important thing to start with:
Medical authorities in China say a drug used to treat new strains of influenza is effective in coronavirus sufferers. It could be approved in May if the research is not delayed.
Encouraging results in studies
Zhang Xinmin, a representative of China's Science and Technology Ministry, said favipiravir achieved encouraging results in clinical trials involving 340 patients in Wuhan and Shenzhen.
"It has a high degree of safety and is clearly effective in treatment," Zhang told reporters on Tuesday.
Patients who were given the drug in Shenzhen tested negative an average of four days later. In contrast, the average of eleven days is for those who were not treated with the drug, public broadcaster NHK .
X-rays also confirmed an improvement in the condition of the lungs in about 91% of patients treated with favipiravir. In comparison, this applies to around 62% of patients who are not taking medication.
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Studies in Japan
Doctors in Japan are using the same drug in clinical trials on coronavirus patients with mild to moderate symptoms. They hope that the virus will not multiply in patients.
However, Japan's health ministry said the drug was not as effective in people with severe symptoms.
"We gave Avigan to 70 to 80 people, but it doesn't seem to work so well when the virus has already multiplied," he said in a statement to the Japanese daily Mainichi Shimbun.
The same limitations were found in studies of coronavirus patients using a combination of the HIV antiretrovirals lopinavir and ritonavir.
Fujifilm Toyama Chemical developed the drug back in 2014
Fujifilm Toyama Chemical developed the drug, also known as Avigan, back in 2014. In 2016, the Japanese government supplied Favipiravir as emergency aid against the Ebola virus outbreak in Guinea.
The pharmaceutical company has not yet commented on the claims.
The company's shares rose 14.7% to 5,207 yen on Wednesday after Zhang's statements, after briefly hitting an intraday high of 5,238 yen.
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Approval of the drug
Favipiravir would need regulatory approval for full use in Covid-19 patients because it was originally intended to treat the flu.
A health official told the Mainichi that the drug could be approved as early as May.
“However, if clinical research results are delayed, approval may also be delayed.”
Source: The Guardian
Article image: Article image: Shutterstock / By ANRproduction
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