A group of Vietnamese scientists at Institute of Chemistry have found a method to shorten synthesis process of Favipiravir, which is used for Covid-19 therapy.

Anti-viral Favipiravir. Photo: VNA

Favipiravir is similar to Remdesivir, an oral medication which was first used to fight coronavirus infections in Wuhan, China and has been approved for use in many countries like the US, the EU, the UK, Australia, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore, among others.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Remdesivir for treating patients hospitalized with Covid-19, making it the first and only drug approved for the disease.

Anti-viral drug Favipiravir can be synthesized in three steps from domestic materials unlike 7-8 steps in the world’s medication synthesis, lowering the prices. The Vietnamese scientists have been researching Favipiravir since August 2020 with an aim to reduce the dependence on the imported sources.

“In the coming time, the team will continue to improve the process, increase the synthesis scale, and register for patents,” Prof. Nguyen Van Tuyen, head of Institute of Chemistry, told media.

Favipiravir is considered a broad-spectrum antiviral noted against a wide range of RNA viruses and a good oral antiviral drug with more than 97% bioavailability.

It has already proved safety as it has received the FDA indication for drug-resistant Influenza. There has been increasing evidence of favorable outcome against Covid-19 in terms of early viral clearance and quicker symptomatic relief.

Favipiravir, when used in mild or moderate cases, might prevent the disease progression to higher severity, helping result in quicker recovery and decreasing health burden by shortening the length of stay at the hospital.

It helps achieve viral clearance early so as to positively impact disease transmission in the community, being meaningful in the context that the world is looking for innovative measures to curb Covid-19 infection.

The anti-viral drug becomes more helpful in the course that the world is facing challenges of Covid-19 vaccine resistance.

Vietnamese scientists involve in the drug systhesis. Photo: VOV