Favipiravir Effects on the Control of Clinical Symptoms of Hospitalized COVID-19 Cases: An Experience with Iranian Formulated Dosage Form
et al., Iranian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, doi:10.22037/ijpr.2021.115510.15401, Sep 2021
Small 62 patient late stage RCT in Iran comparing favipiravir and lopinavir/ritonavir, showing significant improvement in fever, cough, and dyspnea with favipiravir on day 5. There was no significant difference in mortality, ICU admission, or chest CT improvement. IRCT20151227025726N14.
Potential risks of favipiravir include kidney injury1-3, liver injury2-4, and mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, teratogenicity, embryotoxicity, and the creation of dangerous variants5-11.
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risk of death, 29.7% lower, RR 0.70, p = 0.70, treatment 3 of 32 (9.4%), control 4 of 30 (13.3%), NNT 25.
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risk of ICU admission, 41.4% lower, RR 0.59, p = 0.36, treatment 5 of 32 (15.6%), control 8 of 30 (26.7%), NNT 9.1.
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risk of <50% improvement in chest CT, 6.2% lower, RR 0.94, p = 0.76, treatment 24 of 32 (75.0%), control 24 of 30 (80.0%), NNT 20.
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hospitalization time, 25.0% lower, relative time 0.75, p = 0.03, treatment 32, control 30.
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| Effect extraction follows pre-specified rules prioritizing more serious outcomes. Submit updates |
1.
Abdulaziz et al., Clinical Features and Prognosis of Acute Kidney Injury in Hospital-Admitted Patients with COVID-19 in Egypt: A Single-Center Experience, Mansoura Medical Journal, doi:10.58775/2735-3990.1433.
2.
Ülger et al., Experimental evaluation of favipiravir (T-705)-induced liver and kidney toxicity in rats, Food and Chemical Toxicology, doi:10.1016/j.fct.2025.115472.
3.
El-Fetouh et al., Experimental Studies on Some Drugs Used in Covid-19 Treatment (Favipiravir and Dexamethasone) in Albino Rats, Journal of Advanced Veterinary Research, 13:10, www.advetresearch.com/index.php/AVR/article/view/1635.
4.
Almutairi et al., Liver Injury in Favipiravir-Treated COVID-19 Patients: Retrospective Single-Center Cohort Study, Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, doi:10.3390/tropicalmed8020129.
5.
Zhirnov et al., Favipiravir: the hidden threat of mutagenic action, Journal of microbiology, epidemiology and immunobiology, doi:10.36233/0372-9311-114.
6.
Waters et al., Human genetic risk of treatment with antiviral nucleoside analog drugs that induce lethal mutagenesis: the special case of molnupiravir, Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis, doi:10.1002/em.22471.
7.
Hadj Hassine et al., Lethal Mutagenesis of RNA Viruses and Approved Drugs with Antiviral Mutagenic Activity, Viruses, doi:10.3390/v14040841.
8.
Shum, C., An investigational study into the drug-associated mutational signature in SARS-CoV-2 viruses, The University of Hong Kong, PhD Thesis, hub.hku.hk/handle/10722/344396.
9.
Shiraki et al., Convenient screening of the reproductive toxicity of favipiravir and antiviral drugs in Caenorhabditis elegans, Heliyon, doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e35331.
Tabarsi et al., 30 Sep 2021, Randomized Controlled Trial, Iran, peer-reviewed, 27 authors, study period 4 April, 2020 - 7 May, 2020, average treatment delay 7.0 days, this trial compares with another treatment - results may be better when compared to placebo.
Favipiravir Effects on the Control of Clinical Symptoms of Hospitalized COVID-19 Cases: An Experience with Iranian Formulated Dosage Form
doi:10.22037/ijpr.2021.115510.15401
Coronavirus disease -19 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has gradually spread worldwide, becoming a major public health event. This situation requires designing a novel antiviral agent against the SARS-CoV-2; however, this is time-consuming and the use of repurposed medicines may be promising. One such medicine is favipiravir, primarily introduced as an anti-influenza agent in east world. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of favipiravir in comparison with lopinavir-ritonavir in SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this randomized clinical trial, 62 patients were recruited. These patients had bilateral pulmonary infiltration with peripheral oxygen saturation lower than 93%. The median time from symptoms onset to intervention initiation was seven days. Favipiravir was not available in the Iranian pharmaceutical market, and it was decided to formulate it at the
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DOI record:
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"container-title": "Iranian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research",
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"title": "Favipiravir Effects on the Control of Clinical Symptoms of Hospitalized COVID-19 Cases: An Experience with Iranian Formulated Dosage Form",
"type": "article-journal",
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Late treatment
is less effective
is less effective
