Avigan was developed by the Fujifilm Toyama Chemical pharmaceutical company six years ago, but due to side effects on the fetus, it was excluded from use by pregnant women and included in a list of drugs to be used in exceptional circumstances with a special order from the government when no available alternatives work.
In March, Japan began conducting clinical trials on 80 coronavirus patients with mild or no coronavirus symptoms. At the moment, Japan has a supply of Avigan, sufficient to treat two million people.
Initially, the pharmaceutical company planned to complete the tests by the end of May but then extended the test period until the end of June. Yet, the company lacked 96 patients due to the drop in the number of new infections, according to the Kyodo news outlet.
As of 8 June, Japan has registered 17,174 COVID-19 cases, the World Health Organization dashboard shows. A total of 916 people have died. Over 15,000 patients have recovered.
