Coronavirus, Fontana: al via sperimentazione Avigan.

A Fujifilm Holdings employee displays Avigan tablets, an experimental drug developed and manufactured by Japanese drug maker Toyama Chemical Co., Ltd. ,in Tokyo, Japan, 26 August 2014. The generic name of the Avigan drug is Favipiravir. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on 25 August 2014 during a regular news conference that Japan was ready to provide an experimental drug developed by Japan's drug manufacturer Toyama Chemical Co., Ltd., subsidiaries under Fujifilm Holdings, to fight against the global tide of the deadly Ebola virus, if the World Health Organization (WHO) requests it. The drug, called Avigan, is a tablet-format anti-influenza drug developed by Toyama Chemical Co Ltd. It was approved in March by the Health Ministry. Avigan inhibits the replication of the virus genetic material inside infected cells, which prevents propagation. This is a new mechanism, compared with previous antiviral drugs that just tackle propagation, according to the company's website. In early August, the WHO declared the Ebola outbreak an international public health emergency. There is no available cure or vaccine for the deadly virus. The unapproved Ebola drug ZMapp was given to two US aid workers, who are said to have shown strong improvement, and a Spanish missionary priest, who died in Madrid this month. ANSA/KIMIMASA MAYAMA

“Il nuovo farmaco Avigan non si sa se funzioni o non funzioni, è diventato virale sulla rete ma adesso potrà essere testato. Grazie alle sollecitazioni che abbiamo inviato a Roma la sperimentazione inizierà immediatamente. Domani inizierà la sperimentazione di questo nuovo farmaco, speriamo che sia quello giusto” contro il coronavirus. Lo ha detto il governatore lombardo Attilio Fontana durante una diretta Facebook. (ANSA).