Japanese prefecture vows to boost Avigan output to fight coronavirus spread
The governor of the central Japanese prefecture of Toyama told local news outlet on Sunday he vowed to help boot the production of the Avigan – an antiviral drug touted as a potential treatment for coronavirus.
The drug, which is also known as favipiravir, has been hailed as a potential drug to treat patients infected with the coronavirus in Japan and China. It has been developed in 2014 by Japanese company Fujifilm Toyama Chemical Company, a unit of Fujifilm Holdings. Kenya, Iran, and Egypt have ordered to treat local patients, while in the U.S., a second phase of clinical trials are being conducted by Fujifilm.
“I will ask pharmaceutical companies in Toyama Prefecture to cooperate in boosting production (of Avigan),” Toyama Gov. Takakazu Ishii told mainichi.
“If the made-in-Toyama medicine can help Japan and the rest of the world (in their fight against the coronavirus), we will do whatever we can.”
Japan plans to offer the drug, developed by Fujifilm Toyama Chemical Co, a subsidiary of Fujifilm Holdings Corp., for free to at least 20 countries hoping to use it to treat coronavirus patients. The Japanese government also plans to triple the stockpile of Avigan for use in treating 2 million COVID-19 patients.
Fujifilm Toyama Chemical is headquartered in Tokyo but has plants in the central Japan prefecture, known as a major producer and seller of medicine in the country.
A key ingredient of the drug has been imported from China, but supply has been recently stalled due to travel restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the virus.
“A certain number of facilities in Toyama Prefecture can respond to the call for production increase,” Ishii told mainichi.
Since the domestic production of the ingredient instead of using imports from China means more costs to produce Avigan, the Japanese governor said: “I will ask the central government to support capital investment among others.”
Japan started a clinical trial of Avigan for coronavirus patients in late March, while Israel will also start such a trial, according to the Israeli government and Fujifilm Holdings.
In 2014, Avigan was approved for manufacture and sale in Japan as a treatment of the novel or re-surfaced influenza virus infections. Expectant mothers or women who might become pregnant shall not take the drug due to the risk of birth defects, according to Japanese studies.
