Japan testng c.virus drug despite danger of birth defects

[Tanuki]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/japan-tests-coronavirus-drug-despite-danger-of-birth-defects-11583492886

"The drug, Avigan, is being developed by Fujifilm Holdings, whose chief executive is a golfing partner of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

TOKYO—Japan is racing to test a homegrown drug against the novel coronavirus despite doubts about its efficacy and its potential for causing birth defects.

The tests of the Fujifilm Holdings Corp. drug, called Avigan, reflect the need for medicines that might attack a virus for which no proven treatments are known, doctors say. It could eventually play a role in combination therapy, they say. Still, some experts pointed to ethical challenges."

[Tanuki]

1. More:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/seekingalpha.com/amp/news/3549396-japan-to-test-coronavirus-drug-despite-risk-of-birth-defects

"A nationwide study recently launched that will enroll 80 subjects who have tested positive for COVID-19 who have mild or no symptoms, including women who have been tested for pregnancy. Medical experts caution that women between the ages of 18 and 40 should not be recruited for the trial considering the danger of birth defects.

Avigan was approved in Japan in 2014 as a backup drug in case a new kind of influenza emerged. It has not been used to treat regular flu because animal studies showed the potential for fetal damage or death if pregnant women took the medicine.

The government's decision to launch the trial is controversial since Fujifilm's CEO is a golfing partner of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who has also received $28K in political donations from the company. In a televised interview last week, Mr. Abe touted Avigan by name but neglected to mention two other drugs, Gilead Sciences' (NASDAQ:GILD) remdesivir and AbbVie's (NYSE:ABBV) Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir), that are also being evaluated.

Experts doubt that Avigan will be efficacious enough to be useful."