“Hungary has been given the honour of being among the first to receive Avigan, a pharmaceutical containing favipiravir developed in Japan, party for the treatment of coronavirus patients, and partly for the performance of further clinical tests”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in a video posted to his Facebook page on Saturday.

In the post, the Minister pointed out that research aimed at finding a medicine to combat the coronavirus is ongoing at several points around the world. “The favipiravir component of Japanese-registered Avigan has proven to be effective in treating patients infected with the coronavirus”, he added.

According to the Minister, a shipment of 12,200 pills, which is sufficient for the treatment of 100 patients, arrived in Hungary from Japan on Saturday morning. “These pharmaceuticals will be going to the best possible place, the Research Centre of the University of Pécs, where the research aimed at assessing the future role of this active substance is being conducted in Hungary”, he emphasised.

In the video, Professor Gábor L. Kovács from the University of Pécs said Avigan was registered and licenced in Japan, originally for flu patients, not coronavirus patients, but has been found to be extremely effective in treating people infected with the virus. He highlighted that the whole world is now trying to also deploy this pharmaceutical against the coronavirus. The Professor said the treatment of one hundred Hungarian patients will begin under controlled conditions within the framework of clinical studies, and with great care.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade / MTI)