US trial of Japanese flu drug for coronavirus gets green light By Jackie Salo
The drug favipiravir (pictured here), will be given to some patients in Massachusetts. AFP via Getty Images
Sign up for our special edition newsletter to get a daily update on the coronavirus pandemic The US Food and Drug Administration has given the green light for the country’s first clinical trial of a Japanese flu drug that could be used to treat the coronavirus, according to a report.
Three Massachusetts hospitals were granted approval Tuesday to launch small trials of the antiviral drug favipiravir, a doctor involved in the efforts told the Boston Globe.
The drug, also known by the brand name Avigan, was hailed by Chinese health officials as “clearly effective” when used on 340 patients in trials there that showed reduced recovery time and improved lung function.
The patients given the drug in the Chinese city of Shenzhen tested negative for the virus with a median of four days after becoming positive — much lower than the average of 11 days for those who were not given the medicine, according to the Guardian.
The US trials — which will take place at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and UMass Memorial Health Care in Worcester — would involve around 50 or 60 patients with COVID-19, the Globe reported.
Researchers would give one group the drug along with care typical for coronavirus patients, while the control group would only receive the normal standard of treatment, sources told the newspaper.
Dr. Keith T. Flaherty of Massachusetts General Hospital said the favipiravir study was among the more promising of around 30 clinical trials considered by the hospital.
“We have to prioritize, and this absolutely rose to the top,” Flaherty told the ou
John McClane 