Japan is progressing to authorize the antiviral drug Remdesivir to treat coronavirus patients, the govt. said, with an eye fixed to approving another medication Avigan this month.
Japan is going to be the second country to approve the drug when the U.S. approved it on Friday for emergency use upon severe cases of COVID-19.
“If there’s no problem we hope to swiftly approve (the drug) today” at the health ministry’s restrictive panel, top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters.
Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe told last week the govt. was preparing to allow a green signal to the experimental drug developed by United States firm Gilead Sciences.
Us go-ahead came when a significant clinical trial showed Remdesivir — originally developed to treat ebola — shortened the time to recovery in some patients by a third.
