A Japanese medical university said Friday a clinical study of the antiviral drug Avigan has failed to demonstrate efficacy in treating coronavirus patients at an early stage of the disease.
However, patients who took the drug showed a tendency to recover sooner than those who did not, according to the university, based in Aichi Prefecture, central
Avigan, also known as favipiravir and developed by a subsidiary of
"There has been a tendency to bring down fever or eradicate the virus" in those administered with the drug,
But he said the enrollment of 89 patients in the clinical study was too small to yield a statistically meaningful difference.
Prime Minister
As Avigan can inhibit the replication of the virus in cells, experts say it may bring about improvements in patients but it cannot be administered to expectant mothers or women who are likely to become pregnant as it may cause birth defects.
==Kyodo
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