Evaluating Favipiravir For COVID 19

Segment Description: Armand Balboni, MD, PHD, CEO of Appili Therapeutics, discusses the firm's work with favipiravir on a new front for the drug — the global search for COVID-19 treatment and prevention therapies.

Dr. Armand Balboni, CEO of Appili Therapeutics has announced that his company is working with FUJIFILM Toyama Chemical on its favipiravir treatment, which is approved in Japan as an antiviral drug, on a new front for the drug — the global search for a pandemic treatment that can both prevent and treat COVID-19

Appili Therapeutics will sponsor the first clinical trial, phase 2, evaluating favipiravir for the prevention of COVID-19, as it has shown early efficacy against this disease. Appili is working with Canadian government agencies and infectious disease specialists to conduct the clinical trial at multiple long-term care facilities across Ontario.

Dr. Balboni worked with the drug when he was with the US department of defense and with the FDA during the pandemic flu and Ebola outbreaks. The treatment is administered orally, and not by injection, making it easier on patients.