https://cen.acs.org/pharmaceuticals/drug-development/Fujifilm-tests-favipiravir-COVID-19/98/i15Quote:
Fujifilm is ramping up production of its antiviral treatment favipiravir, one of many approved drugs being tested as a possible treatment for COVID-19. Phase III clinical trials are ongoing in Japan, and the government has ordered 2 million treatment courses. In the US, Fujifilm started Phase II trials earlier this month.
Favipiravir, which Fujifilm sells under the brand name Avigan, has been approved in Japan since 2014 to treat influenza and other viral strains that don't respond to other drugs. "Avigan tablets are expected to have efficacy against infection with the new coronavirus in view of its characteristic mechanism of action," says a Fujifilm spokesperson,although the company has yet to present evidence of efficacy.
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Fujifilm expects to complete small Phase III trials in Japan, involving 100 people, in June. In the US, Phase II trials with 50 people will be conducted at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Italy and China launched clinical trials of the antiviral in March.
I remember seeing Avigan mentioned on a few other threads so figured it might be of some interest to our resident medical people.
"If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves." - Sir Winston Churchill