China to Add Favipiravir to Official Covid-19 Treatment Program
Tang Shihua
DATE:  Mar 17 2020
/ SOURCE:  yicai
China to Add Favipiravir to Official Covid-19 Treatment Program China to Add Favipiravir to Official Covid-19 Treatment Program

(Yicai Global) March 17 -- China will add Favipiravir to its official list of drugs for its Covid-19 treatment program at the suggestion of medical experts in the country, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The medicine has passed clinical trials with excellent results and no significant side effects, and is already in mass production, Zhang Xinmin, an official with the ministry, said at a press briefing today.

Favipiravir was initially developed by Japan's Fujifilm Toyama Chemical and got approval in Japan in March 2014 to treat influenza A and B. It has also shown to be effective on other viruses, like Ebola, but its chemical compound patent expired in August 2019.

China's Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical penned a deal to develop, make and sell an anti-influenza drug containing Favipiravir in China in 2016. It got regulatory approval to start clinical trial to treat the novel coronavirus-caused pneumonia in February.

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Keywords:   New Medicine,Favipiravir,Official Treatment Program,Virus Outbreak,New Coronavirus Pneumonia ,Epidemic Control