Avigan influenza tablets, produced by Fujifilm Holdings Corp., are arranged for a photograph at the company's headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on Monday, Oct. 27, 2014. Fujifilm, which makes the Avigan drug used as part of clinical trials in Ebola patients, said aid group Doctors Without Borders may use the drug among its experimental treatments. Photographer: Akio Kon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Indian pharmaceutical Strides Pharma Science has received regulatory approval to start clinical trials of antiviral drug favipiravir, which has been touted as a potential treatment for COVID-19. The company has received approval from the Drug Controller General of India to conduct human studies of favipiravir in the country.
Favipiravir is manufactured under the brand name Avigan by a unit of Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings. Earlier this month, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals became the first pharma company in India to get the nod to conduct trials on the drug. The results of this study are expected by July or August.
