Chinese drug Favipiravir effective in treating patients with coronavirus

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KUWAIT CITY, March 19: The Chinese Ambassador to Kuwait Li Minggang has affirmed the effectiveness of Favipiravir drug in treating patients affected by coronavirus, saying a large number of cases have been cured in China and the number of infections has reduced drastically, reports Al-Anba daily.

The official Xinhua News Agency quoting a Chinese official recently announced that the country has completed clinical trials on the anti-viral drug Favipiravir, which has proven the therapeutic efficacy in combating the new coronavirus (Covid-19).

The Chinese envoy described the news circulated by the official Chinese news agency, regarding effectiveness of the Favipiravir drug in eliminating the coronavirus, with joy and encouragement.

He explained the past few months have witnessed tremendous efforts by Chinese scientists to combat the coronavirus and to reduce its spread and find an effective remedy to eliminate it. He said China has sent specialized medical teams to Iran, Iraq and Italy and harnessed its expertise to help them overcome this virus and contribute to curbing its spread. Simultaneously, the French pharmaceutical group “Sanofi” announced a few days ago that it’s ready to provide the French authorities with millions of doses of “Blaquenel”, the anti-malarial drug it produces, which has demonstrated “promising” results in treating patients with the emerging coronavirus, indicating this amount is sufficient to treat 300,000 potential patients.

Zhang Jinmen, head of the China National Center for Biotechnology Development, under the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, told a press conference that Favipiravir, approved to treat influenza in Japan in 2014, showed varied response when tested clinically.

The agency added that 80 patients underwent clinical trials at the Third People’s Hospital in Shenzhen, South China’s Guangdong Province, of whom 35 took the Favipiravir drug and 45 were placed in a “control group”, and results indicated that the patients who took the Favipiravir tested negative to the coronavirus in a period of time shorter than those of the other group. Another study by Zhongnan Hospital at Wuhan University discovered the therapeutic effects of Favipiravir were much better than the results obtained by the control group. Zhang recommended Favipiravir be approved in clinical treatments and should be added to “Covid-19 virus diagnosis and treatment” plans as soon as possible.

He added that a Chinese pharmaceutical production company has obtained the approval of the “National Medicine Production Administration”, so the drug can be commercially produced to ensure stability of its supply. Indeed, many experts call for caution in the absence of further studies and warn of possible serious side effects, especially in cases of overdose.

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