Egypt’s Eva Pharma begins manufacturing of coronavirus drug Avipiravir approved by Russia

Egyptian drugmaker Eva Pharma announced on Monday that it has begun manufacturing antiviral drug Avipiravir, which has proved effective in treating coronavirus patients in Russia as part of ongoing clinical trials in Japan and other countries.

The company has begun the production of the drug at its factories in Egypt after conducting necessary manufacturing trials, Eva Pharma chief executive Riad Armanious said in a statement.

Armanious said Eva Pharma is coordinating with relevant Egyptian authorities to make the drug available in the coming period.

The Egyptian drug will consist of the same active substance of Avigan, which is also known as favipiravir and originally approved for the treatment of influenza in Japan. It is currently being tested to treat coronavirus under different brand names in Japan, Italy, and the UK.

Eva Pharma aims to meet local demand for the drug and to export it to a number of countries in the Middle East, Africa, and beyond, Armanious added.

The medicine, which will be available in tablets, will be priced at around 4,500 Egyptian pounds ($278) or less per treatment course, said Eva Pharma’s general manager Amgad Talaat.

Russia started earlier this month using the drug, known there as Avifavir — its first treatment approved to treat coronavirus patients – following clinical trials that had shown it successfully treated the virus in most cases within a few days.

A week earlier, Eva Pharma reached a “landmark” deal with Gilead Sciences to become a licenced manufacturer of the U.S. company’s antiviral treatment remdesivir for coronavirus in 127 countries.

To date, there are no vaccines for COVID-19 yet been reached, and many countries are conducting human trials of several existing antiviral drugs to prove their efficacy.