Fujifilm to Raise Antiflu Drug Output for Ebola Treatment

Tokyo, Oct. 20 (Jiji Press)--Fujifilm Corp. said Monday that it will start additional production of favipiravir, an antiflu drug developed by subsidiary Toyama Chemical Co., in mid-November for use in treatment of Ebola patients abroad. Favipiravir has yet to be authorized for Ebola treatment, but is said to be possibly effective for the deadly disease. The French government plans to conduct in mid-November a clinical trial of the drug for about 60 Ebola patients in Guinea, one of the West African countries battered by the Ebola outbreak. If the effectiveness and safety of favipiravir are confirmed in the trial, Fujifilm may be asked to supply the drug for a larger-scale clinical trial, a spokesman of the company said. The scale of the additional production will be fixed later. Fujifilm currently has favipiravir tables for about 20,000 people and active pharmaceutical ingredients for the drug for 300,000 people. Favipiravir has so far been administered to four Ebola patients abroad. Of them, a French nurse, who was also given another unauthorized drug, saw her conditions improve. <4901> END