Moscow: Russia has approved R-Pharm’s Coronavir treatment for outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19 infections and the antiviral drug could be distributed to pharmacies in the country as soon as next week.
Coronavir’s approval as a prescription drug follows the green light for another Russian COVID-19 drug, Avifavir, in May. Both are based on favipiravir, which was developed in Japan and is widely used there as the basis for viral treatments.
R-Pharm’s announcement is another sign Russia is pushing hard to take a global lead in the race against the virus. It is already exporting its COVID-19 tests and has got several international deals for supplies of its ‘Sputnik-V’ vaccine. R-Pharm said it received approval for Coronavir after Phase III clinical trials involving 168 patients with COVID-19. The drug was first approved for in-hospital use to treat COVID-19 in July.
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