Avigan Tablet 200mg administered to a French woman infected with Ebola virus

Tokyo: FUJIFILM Corporation announced that the anti-influenza drug 'Avigan(r) Tablet 200mg' (Favipiravir), developed by the Fujifilm Group company Toyama Chemical Co., Ltd, ha been administered to a patient infected with the Ebola virus disease at a hospital in France.

The Japanese government has announced that they are ready to offer a drug developed by a Japanese company, as a potential treatment for Ebola.

Avigan was provided as an emergency measure upon consultations with the Japanese government, in response to the request by French government agency, French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety (ANSM), to Fujifilm asking for the drug as a means of treatment of a French nurse infected with the Ebola virus.

The French nurse was diagnosed as Ebola virus disease while engaging in healthcare work in Monrovia, Liberia's capital, and was repatriated to France for treatment. ANSM stated that a treatment combining Avigan and another experimental drug has started on September 19.

The patient is taking Avigan as of September 25.

Fujifilm and Toyama Chemical will continue to work together with relevant pharmaceutical authorities, international organizations and infectious disease specialists to explore the potential of leveraging Avigan for patients with the Ebola virus disease.