MOSCOW — The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia's sovereign wealth fund, and ChemRar Group have agreed to supply Avifavir, the world's first registered favipiravir-based drug against coronavirus and Russia's first drug approved for the treatment of COVID-19, to 17 countries.

Avifavir and other favipiravir-based drugs produced in Russia, as well as Remdesivir developed in the US are currently the leading drugs against COVID-19 registered globally.

Avifavir will be delivered to Argentina, Bulgaria, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Kuwait, Panama, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, UAE and Uruguay.

The drug has already been delivered to Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

On May 29, 2020, Avifavir received a registration certificate from Russia's Ministry of Health based on thorough and transparent clinical data and became the first favipiravir-based drug in the world approved for the treatment of COVID-19.

Approximately five months after the clinical trials of Avifavir in Russia, the efficacy of favipiravir against the novel coronavirus infection was confirmed by Japan's Fujifilm.

On Sept. 23, 2020, the company announced that according to the results of its Phase III clinical trial, the administration of its favipiravir-based drug Avigan to 156 patients demonstrated shorter time to resolution as compared with the placebo group.

The efficacy of Avifavir has been demonstrated in clinical trials, which significantly exceed in scale those conducted by other Russian manufacturers of favipiravir. These trials have been conducted in full compliance with international standards and the requirements of regulatory authorities around the world.

Since April, 408 patients with confirmed coronavirus have participated in the studies at 35 medical centers across Russia. In October the number of patients will increase to 460.

Since June 2020, more than 60,000 packages of Avifavir have been delivered to clinics in 74 Russian regions. Since the start of Avifavir supplies, clinical monitoring has been carried out based on data from the register of patients with coronavirus of the Ministry of Health of Russia.

Data on the use of Avifavir has been collected, with further analysis as well as scientific and medical assessment conducted. According to the results of the observational post-registration clinical trial of 940 patients, those taking Avifavir demonstrated elimination of the virus at an earlier stage in 30% of the cases and the level of oxygen saturation was restored to normal twice as quickly compared with standard therapy (within two days versus four days).

According to the results of the research, the drug is well tolerated, with no new adverse events identified.

Avifavir is now the leading Russian anti-COVID drug in terms of exports. In particular, the start of deliveries to Bolivia and other countries in Latin America was announced on Sept. 21 as part of the agreement to deliver 150,000 packs. Avifavir has also been approved by regulators in Europe, Middle East and Asia.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said: "When we registered the first anti-coronavirus drug in the world based on favipiravir there was a lot of skepticism as people were wondering how we could register it when Japan had not registered it yet.

“Now five months after our clinical trials we see that Japan has confirmed the clinical efficacy of favipiravir. Avifavir has been tested in more than 1,300 patients including 408 patients in clinical trials and 940 patients during the observational post-registration clinical trial.

“We have now conducted the largest clinical trial of a favipiravir-based drug against coronavirus in the world and can confirm its high efficacy. Since June, more than 60,000 packages of Avifavir have been delivered to clinics in 74 Russian regions and more than 15 countries have confirmed their interest in the drug.

“Based on our extensive clinical trials and the research in Japan confirming favipiravir's efficacy against coronavirus we believe that Avifavir and other favipiravir-based products will be the leading antiviral medicines against COVID-19 in the world. In addition to proven efficacy and safety Avifavir is also three to four times cheaper than Remdesivir."

Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 to make equity co-investments, primarily in Russia, alongside reputable international financial and strategic investors. RDIF acts as a catalyst for direct investment in the Russian economy. — PRNewswire