Avigan Increased COVID-19 Recover Time

Japan-based Fujifilm Toyama Chemical Co. announced on September 23, 2020, its phase III trial evaluating Avigan was now complete, and it intends to apply for the antiviral medication to be approved for treating coronavirus patients after the trials showed the median recovery time was 11.9 days in those receiving Avigan, compared with 14.7 for patients given a placebo.

Avigan's generic name is favipiravir, was approved for use in Japan in 2014, but only for influenza outbreaks. Favipiravir, which can be taken orally as a pill, works by blocking the ability of a virus to replicate inside a cell.