Coronavirus Medicine Gains Worldwide Partners

Tokyo Japan-based Fujifilm Corporation announced a partnership concerning the global development, manufacture, and sales of its influenza medication, Avigan® Tablets (favipiravir), 

Fujifilm stated on June 1, 2020, it will exclusively partner with India's Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd., and Dubai-based Global Response Aid for the worldwide distribution of Avigan excluding Japan, China, and Russia.

Because it has a mechanism of action that selectively inhibits viral RNA polymerase, thereby preventing viral proliferation, Avigan may have an antiviral effect on the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, as it is classified into the same type of RNA virus as influenza viruses, commented this press statement.

Avigan is to be considered for use only when there is an outbreak of novel or re-emerging influenza virus infections in which other influenza antiviral drugs are either not effective or insufficiently effective, and the Japanese government decides to use the drug as a countermeasure against such influenza viruses. 

The Fujifilm Group is currently conducting a clinical study on Avigan targeting COVID-19 patients in Japan and the USA and is working to increase the drug’s production by partnering with domestic and overseas companies.

Based on the Agreement, Fujifilm Toyama Chemical will provide Dr. Reddy’s and GRA an array of data on Avigan’s preclinical and clinical studies that Fujifilm has accumulated thus far. 

Dr. Reddy’s and GRA, for their part, will make use of this data to swiftly implement clinical studies, targeting COVID-19 patients in India, the Middle East, and other regions where infections have been spreading.

In addition, Fujifilm Toyama Chemical will grant Dr. Reddy’s right to use Avigan’s patents of formulation and manufacturing methods. 

Dr. Reddy’s will herewith establish a setup for manufacturing drugs of the same quality as Avigan, and utilize GRA’s global sales network to supply the manufactured drugs swiftly and in a stable manner. 

Dr. Reddy’s is a global pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures, and sells generic drugs. It has been expanding business not only in India but also in Europe, the US and several other markets across the world and is accelerating its global business development. 

GRA, a company based in Dubai, offers medical supplies, drugs, and medical services worldwide in cooperation with drug and medical device manufacturers.

Previously, on February 17, 2020, China’s National Center for Biotechnology Department, said that in human trials conducted in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, Avigan showed promising results against the novel coronavirus and mild adverse reactions in patients.

In India, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd received regulatory approval for favipiravir, the generic form of Avigan, as a treatment for mild-to-moderate virus infections in June.

And in Russia, the Ministry of Health issued a temporary registration certificate for Avifavir (Avigan) on June 1, 2020.

In early June, the first batches of Avifavir will be sent to Russia's Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare (Roszdravnadzor) for approval for use.

The drug is undergoing clinical trials in Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Tver, Nizhny Novgorod, Smolensk, Ryazan, Kazan, Ufa, and in the Republic of Dagestan.

The efficacy of the drug was reported above 80 percent, a criterion for a drug with high antiviral activity.

Precision Vaccinations publishes coronavirus therapeutic development news.