The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said the country’s Ministry of Health has licensed the drug Avifavir to treat Covid-19. It was developed based on a drug called Favipiravir.
RDIF said, Avifavir has proven highly effective in treating patients with Covid-19 in the first phase of clinical trials. The final phase of this trial is underway, involving 330 patients.
Meanwhile, Russia is also about to conduct clinical trials on a Covid-19 vaccine.
"The trials are underway and we expect to begin clinical trials in two weeks," TASS news agency quoted on May 30, citing Health Minister Mikhail Murashko. Mr. Murashko added that the volunteers were selected to participate in the trial.
Russia is currently the third highest number of people with Covid-19 in the world, behind only the United States and Brazil. Kremlin officials say researchers in the country are currently involved in nearly 50 different vaccine projects.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers around the world are also urgently researching treatments and vaccines to prevent pneumonia, which has infected more than 6 million people and nearly 370,000 died globally. so far.
There are currently about 10 types of Covid-19 vaccines currently being tested in humans and experts predict that a safe and effective vaccine could take 12-18 months from the onset. development.
One of the Russian vaccine projects is being implemented by the Vektor Institute in Siberia. The director of the institute, Rinat Maksyutov, said yesterday he hoped clinical trials would be completed by mid-September, adding that the vaccine trials for animals were successful.
