EVA Pharma Announces Availability of Antiviral Avipiravir® Tablets in Egyptian Pharmacies
Cairo, March 4, 2021 – EVA Pharma announces the availability of Avipiravir® tablets, the antiviral COVID-19 treatment, in Egyptian pharmacies. Avipiravir® is the generic equivalent of the Japanese and Russian antiviral “Favipiravir” which showed positive clinical results in treating mild to moderate COVID-19 cases.
“Avipiravir® selectively inhibits viral replication inside the human cells; it has proven efficiency in treating severe influenza and respiratory viruses and it’s now used to treat the novel coronavirus in many countries including Egypt. Therefore, we value EDA’s decision to make the drug more accessible for patients and we are dedicated to manufacture and produce all the needed quantity.” Said Dr. Riad Armanious, chief executive officer of EVA Pharma.
Dr. Ashraf Hatem, Chairman of the Health Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives and a member of the Supreme Committee for Respiratory Viruses at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, stated that “Avipiravir is now the first coronavirus treatment to be available in Egyptian pharmacies, making the treatment accessible for patients in home-isolation without the need for them to be admitted to hospitals in order to receive the treatment”.
While Dr. Adel Khattab, Professor of Chest Diseases at Ain Shams University and a member of the Supreme Committee for Respiratory Viruses at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, clarified “The oral drug favipiravir was first used as an influenza treatment in 2014 in Japan, and during the pandemic, the drug was under clinical researches by 40 countries to test its efficacy against (SARS-CoV-2) the virus that causes COVID-19 and was admitted to the treatment protocol in Egypt, India, China, Russia, and Japan. Today Avipiravir® is available in pharmacies, unlike the parenteral treatment Remdesivir-EVA Pharma® which is only available in the hospital setting.”
EVA Pharma manufactures Avipiravir® and exports the drug to countries on different continents since the first wave of coronavirus.