Israel among first to try experimental Japanese coronavirus drug

APRIL 6, 2020 19:38

Tablets of Avigan (generic name : Favipiravir), a drug approved as an anti-influenza drug in Japan and developed by drug maker Toyama Chemical Co, a subsidiary of Fujifilm Holdings Co. are displayed during a photo opportunity in Tokyo

Israel is among the first countries to receive an experimental Japanese drug to treat coronavirus, for testing at hospitals throughout the country, the Foreign Ministry announced on Monday.

Testing in China has found the flu medicine Avigan, produced by Japan’s Fujifilm Holding Corp., as helpful in treating COVID-19 in its early stages, shortening the time that the patient is sick and preventing the illness from becoming more severe.

Israel received a first shipment of the drug in recent days, after weeks of work by Israeli Ambassador to Japan Yaffa Ben-Ari, together with Prof. Ran Nir-Paz, an infectious disease expert from Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem and Dr. Esti Sayag, a deputy director-general of Sourasky (Ichilov) Medical Center in Tel Aviv.

The committee on clinical trials on humans met in Hadassah on Monday to review a number of promising drugs being tested on coronavirus patience and authorized experimenting with Avigan.

The hospitals plan to test the drug on a total of 80 patients at Hadassah, Sourasky, Poriah Hospital in Tiberias and Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, together with researchers from Hebrew University.

Nir-Paz explained that the medicine, developed for pandemic influenza, is meant to shorten the duration of the illness, and thus decrease the likelihood of other patients in the hospital catching coronavirus.

“The medicine is being used in the frontlines of care in Japan,” he said. “The goal of Israeli research is to examine if the medicine is effective for this indication.”

Sayag said that Avigan seems the most promising out of the drugs being tested for treating coronavirus patients in early days of the infection, and can thus help flatten the curve of patience and allow hospitals to provide better care to those in worse condition.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz praised the work of the embassy in Tokyo, the Foreign Ministry and Health Ministry for “successfully bringing this groundbreaking research to Israel.”

“In this challenging time, the Foreign Ministry is on the frontlines of the battle against coronavirus and is leading, together with other ministries, Israel’s efforts to find necessary medical supplies and medical solutions to the virus,” Katz said.

Ben-Ari said she will continue working to get more doses of Avigan to Israel to help prevent infected people’s condition from deteriorating. She thanked Fujifilm for recognizing the high level of medical research conducted in Israel.

Japanese media reported on Sunday that Japan plans to stockpile 2 million doses of Avigan, as opposed to its current level of 700,000. Tokyo also plans to prioritize the clinical trial process of the drug so it can be formally approved to be used in treating coronavirus patients.