US trial of Japanese flu drug to treat coronavirus gets approval

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The U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a small, randomized trial of a Japanese flu drug that could be used to treat the coronavirus, according to the Boston Globe.

The antiviral drug favipiravir, also known by the brand name Avigan, was approved to be used in trials at three Massachusetts hospitals. The trials will take place at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and UMass Memorial Health Care, and will involve around 50 or 60 patients with COVID-19, the Globe reports.

The drug used to treat new strains of the flu has shown some promise in being effective against the coronavirus in clinical trials involving 340 patients in China.

Last month it was reported that infected patients who were given the drug in Wuhan and Shenzhen tested negative for the coronavirus after a median of four days, compared with a median of 11 days for those who were not treated with the drug, The Guardian reported.

Researchers also made the claim that the lung condition in about 91 percent of the patients treated with favipiravir improved, compared to 62 percent of patients who did not take the drug.... (Read more)

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