Coronavirus may have found a cure in a certain pill by a Japanese company, Fujifilm Toyama Chemical.
The name of the drug is Favipiravir and it is said to have produced great outcomes in about 340 patients during clinical trials in Wuhan and Shenzhen.
The pill has been endorsed by China, the origin of COVID-19 and one of the most-affected countries.
According to Zhang Xinmin, an official at China’s science and technology ministry, “it has a high degree of safety and is clearly effective in treatment.”
On average, the patients in Shenzhen became negative of the virus four days after the drug was administered to them. In comparison, people who were not treated with the drug took 11 days to become cured of the virus, says NHK, Japan’s Broadcasting Commission.
In addition, X-rays confirmed improvements in lung condition in about 91% of the patients who were treated with Favipiravir, compared to 62% or those without the drug.
There’s a little caveat, though
According to an unnamed source in the Japanese ministry of health:
“We’ve given Avigan to 70 to 80 people, but it doesn’t seem to work that well when the virus has already multiplied.”
You may have to wait till may to get it
A health official says the pill may only be approved by May or maybe later than that.
“If the results of clinical research are delayed, approval could also be delayed,” the source tells Mainichi Shinbum, a major Japanese paper.
Fujifilm Toyama Chemical, which developed the drug in 2014, has declined to comment on the claims.