Japan is considering increasing the stockpile of Fujifilm Holding Corp’s Avigan anti-flu drug during this fiscal year so that it can be used to treat 2 million people, according to a planning document seen by Reuters.
Local media yesterday reported that Japan was hoping to triple the production of the drug from current levels, which is enough to treat 700,000 people if used by COVID-19 patients.
Avigan, also known as favipiravir, is manufactured by a subsidiary of Fujifilm, which has a healthcare arm although it is better known for its cameras. The drug was approved for use in Japan in 2014. Avigan is being tested in China as a treatment for COVID-19.
In the emergency stimulus package expected to be rolled out tomorrow, the government also plans to prioritize the clinical trial process of the drug so that it can be formally approved to be used in treating coronavirus patients.
According to the document, Japan also plans to boost subsidies to domestic companies that supply masks and disinfectants, and would secure enough capacity to supply 700 million masks a month.
The Nikkei newspaper reported that in efforts to reduce its dependence on China as its manufacturing hub, it would subsidize companies that would move some of their production facilities back to Japan.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday said that a stimulus package to combat the pandemic would target small firms and households hardest hit by social distancing policies that are affecting consumption.
The package would include cash payouts to small firms and households facing sharp falls in income, Abe said.
The government would also urge private financial institutions to join government-affiliated lenders in offering zero-interest rate loans to cash-strapped small and medium-sized firms, he said.
Separately, Gilead Sciences Inc said it is donating 1.5 million doses of its experimental anti-coronavirus drug remdesivir, which could treat 140,000 patients.
The drug would be offered for compassionate use, expanded access and clinical trials, and would treat patients with severe symptoms, chairman and chief executive officer Daniel O’Day said in an open letter.
The company is also boosting its supply of remdesivir to more than 500,000 treatment courses by October and to more than 1 million by the end of the year.
Production time has also been accelerated to six months from one year, he said.
“While we are working with the utmost sense of urgency on the immediate needs before us, we are also looking forward,” he said. “Over the next weeks and months, we will be able to further increase our supplies of remdesivir as raw materials with long lead times become available for manufacture.”
The drugmaker last week said that it was switching to “expanded access” from a “compassionate use” program under which remdesivir was given.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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