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.To get more news
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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.
The Japanese government stated its preference for Avigan to be made in
Japan using domestically produced materials. Toyama Chemical, the
Fujifilm subsidiary that developed Avigan, will fulfill part of its
requirement for a key intermediate, diethyl malonate, from the chemical
producer Denka. The firm will restart a plant in Niigata Prefecture that
it had closed in 2017 because of global oversupply of the material. The
facility was not dismantled and should be able to resume full
operations in late May, according to a Denka spokesperson.In addition,
Fujifilm will boost production of intermediates at its Wako Pure
Chemical subsidiary and establish partnerships with other raw material
suppliers.
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.
According to the Fujifilm spokesperson, human trials so far have not
uncovered any adverse reactions. The drug has not been tested on
pregnant women, however, because preclinical studies indicated possible
harm to fetuses.
Like Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir, another antiviral being tested against
COVID-19, favipiravir is a selective inhibitor of the RNA polymerase
involved in viral replication. Animal studies showed that it’s effective
against influenza as well as West Nile virus, yellow fever,
foot-and-mouth disease, and other viruses, Fujifilm says.
The firm notes that thus far the Japanese government is the only group
that has ordered large quantities of favipiravir to use against
COVID-19. The World Health Organization did not include favipiravir
among the four existing drugs it is testing against the disease in a
multinational trial.
