The foreign minister has revealed that Hungary has been selected as one of the first countries to receive Avigan for treatment of COVID-19 patients and will run further clinical tests on the drug with the active ingredient favipiravir registered in Japan.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Péter Szijjártó said a shipment of 12,200 Avigan pills – enough to treat 100 patients – arrived in Hungary on Saturday morning, adding that the medicine had been sent to the research center of the University of Pécs, in southern Hungary. Avigan was registered in Japan as an influenza drug but has been found effective against the novel coronavirus.
Professor Gábor L Kovács said in the same video that the pills will be used for clinical tests on 100 Hungarian patients “under controlled conditions and with the utmost care”.
A call center set up for advice on the coronavirus can be reached on +36-80-277-455 and +36-80-277-456 or by email koronavirus@bm.gov.hu
Photo credit: Boston Globe / AKIO KON/BLOOMBERG/FILE