Avigan tablets are being shown at a photo shoot at Fujifilm’s headquarters in Tokyo. REUTERS / Issei Kato
Fujifilm Holdings Corp (4901.T) said on Wednesday it was launching a new Phase III trial in Japan with its Avigan drug for COVID-19, reviving hopes of a home treatment for the virus.
Local approval for the antiviral drug to treat the coronavirus was hit in December after a panel of the Ministry of Health said the trial data were unconvincing.
Over the years, Fujifilm has switched from its traditional camera and office solution businesses to healthcare. [nT9N2LY00R
The new double-blind, placebo-controlled study is targeting patients aged 50 and older, as well as those at risk of developing serious conditions, Fujifilm said in a release.
Avigan, known generically as favipiravir, has been studied in dozens of trials worldwide, and it has been approved as a COVID-19 treatment in Russia, India and Indonesia. But concerns remain, as the drug has been shown to cause birth defects in animal studies.
Japan has already approved Avigan as an emergency flu medicine, and the government last year called on Fujifilm to triple national stockpiles of the drug.
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