Avigan’s tablets are on display during a photography opportunity at Fujifilm’s Tokyo headquarters. REUTERS / Issei Kato
Fujifilm Holdings Corp (4901.T) said Wednesday it has begun a new phase III trial in Japan of its Avigan drug for COVID-19, reviving hopes of a home treatment for the virus.
National approval of the antiviral drug to treat coronavirus was a setback in December after a health ministry group said trial data were inconclusive.
Fujifilm has been moving over the years from its traditional business of camera and office solutions 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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