COVID-19: Favipiravir's treatment benefits uncovered in new study

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has said that the oral antiviral medication Favipiravir leads to significant improvement in clinical cure in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19. The phase 3 study conducted by Glenmark found Favipiravir to provide multiple treatment benefits including faster time to clinical cure and significantly delaying the need of supporting oxygen therapy.

Glenmark said in a statement, "The Phase 3 study with antiviral drug Favipiravir, brand name FabiFlu, was conducted in 150 patients as part of a randomised, open label, multicenter, Phase 3 study. The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Favipiravir plus standard supportive care (Favipiravir treatment arm), versus standard supportive care alone (control arm), in mild to moderate patients, randomised within a 48 hour window of testing RT-PCR positive for COVID-19."

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The study found that patients of confirmed COVID-19 with moderate symptoms were discharged from hospital earlier than those patients that did not receive Favipiravir, with the median time to clinical cure reduced by 2.5 days compared with the control group.

Glenmark's study also discovered that Favipiravir works by inhibiting a viral enzyme called RdRP, thereby halting the virus' replication cycle.

Glenmark said that the patients in its clinical trial received Favipiravir tablets 3,600 mg (1,800 mg BID) (Day 1) + 1,600 mg (800 mg BID) (Day 2 or later) for up to maximum of 14 days, along with standard supportive care. It was established that Favipiravir was well tolerated with no serious adverse events (SAEs) or deaths in the Favipiravir treated arm.

The findings of this study are now published online in The International Journal of Infectious Diseases (IJID).

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