The Japanese government has revealed plans to approve the antiviral drug, Remdesivir, to treat COVID-19 patients, just as it aims to approve another medication, Avigan, this month.
Japan would become the second country to approve the drug after US regulators authorised it last Friday for emergency use against severe cases of COVID-19.
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A top government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, while speaking with reporters, said:
If there is no problem we hope to swiftly approve (the drug) today at the health ministry’s regulatory panel.
United States-based Nigerian doctor, Babafemi Taiwo, led the researched on Remdesivir as a possible drug to aid the fight against COVI-19.
Last week, Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, said that the government was getting ready to give a speedy green light to the experimental drug developed by US firm, Gilead Sciences.
The authorization by the US government follows a major clinical trial which showed Remdesivir, originally developed to treat Ebola, shortened the time to recovery in some patients by a third, even though the difference in mortality rate was not statistically significant.
The drug, which is administered by injection, was already available to some patients who enrolled in clinical trials in various parts of the world.
Meanwhile, Suga said the government aims to approve the use of Avigan this month if a clinical trial involving 100 patients proves effective.
The drug, developed by Japanese firm, Fujifilm Toyama Chemical, and whose generic name is favipiravir, was approved for use in Japan in 2014 but only in flu outbreaks that are not being effectively addressed by existing medications.
According to findings, the drug is not available in the market and can only be manufactured and distributed at the request of the Japanese government.
It was also gathered that Favipiravir, which can be taken as a pill, works by blocking the ability of a virus to replicate inside a cell.
In the meantime, Remdesivir incorporates itself into the virus’s genome, short-circuiting its replication process.
Avigan has been shown in animal studies to affect fetal development, implying that it cannot be prescribed to pregnant women.
