An outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and its caused coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been reported in China since December 2019. More than 16% of patients developed acute respiratory distress syndrome, and the fatality ratio was about 1%–2%. No specific treatment has been reported. Herein, we examined the effects of Favipiravir (FPV) versus Lopinavir (LPV)/ritonavir (RTV) for the treatment of COVID-19. Patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 who received oral FPV (Day 1: 1600 mg twice daily; Days 2–14: 600 mg twice daily) plus interferon (IFN)-α by aerosol inhalation (5 million U twice daily) were included in the FPV arm of this study, whereas patients who were treated with LPV/RTV (Days 1–14: 400 mg/100 mg twice daily) plus IFN-α by aerosol inhalation (5 million U twice daily) were included in the control arm. To get more news about 259793-96-9, wisepowder official website is the best place for you.
Changes in chest computed tomography (CT), viral clearance, and drug safety were compared between the two groups. For the 35 patients enrolled in the FPV arm and the 45 patients in the control arm, all baseline characteristics were comparable between the two arms. A shorter viral clearance time was found for the FPV arm versus the control arm (median (interquartile range, IQR), 4 (2.5–9) d versus 11 . The FPV arm also showed significant improvement in chest imaging compared with the control arm, with an improvement rate of 91.43% versus 62.22% . After adjustment for potential confounders, the FPV arm also showed a significantly higher improvement rate in chest imaging. Multivariable Cox regression showed that FPV was independently associated with faster viral clearance. In addition, fewer adverse events were found in the FPV arm than in the control arm. In this open-label before-after controlled study, FPV showed better therapeutic responses on COVID-19 in terms of disease progression and viral clearance. These preliminary clinical results provide useful information of treatments for SARS-CoV-2 infection.
A recent outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the novel coronavirus designated as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) started in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019. The clinical characteristics of COVID-19 include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, dyspnea, and pneumonia [1], [2], [3], [4]. As of 25 February 2020, at least 77 785 cases and 2666 deaths had been identified across China [5] and in other countries; in particular, 977 and 861 cases were identified in South Korea and Japan, respectively. The outbreak has already caused global alarm. On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), and issued advice in the form of temporary recommendations under the International Health Regulations (IHR).

It has been revealed that SARS-CoV-2 has a genome sequence that is 75%–80% identical to that of SARS-CoV, and has more similarities to several bat coronaviruses [6]. SARS-CoV-2 is the seventh reported human-infecting member of the family Coronaviridae, which also includes SARS-CoV and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-CoV. It has been identified as the causative agent of COVID-19. Both the clinical and the epidemiological features of COVID-19 patients demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 infection can lead to intensive care unit (ICU) admission and high mortality. About 16%–21% of people with the virus in China have become severely ill, with a 2%–3% mortality rate [1], [4]. However, there is no specific treatment against the new virus. Therefore, it is urgently necessary to identify effective antiviral agents to combat the disease and explore the clinical effect of antiviral drugs.

One efficient approach to discover effective drugs is to test whether the existing antiviral drugs are effective in treating other related viral infections. Several drugs, such as ribavirin, interferon (IFN), Favipiravir (FPV), and Lopinavir (LPV)/ritonavir (RTV), have been used in patients with SARS or MERS, although the efficacy of some drugs remains controversial. It has recently been demonstrated that, as a prodrug, FPV (half maximal effective concentration (EC50) = 61.88 μmol·L−1, half-maximal cytotoxic concentration (CC50) > 400 μmol·L−1, selectivity index (SI) > 6.46) effectively inhibits the SARS-CoV-2 infection in Vero E6 cells (ATCC-1586) [7]. Furthermore, other reports show that FPV is effective in protecting mice against Ebola virus challenge, although its EC50 value in Vero E6 cells was as high as 67 μmol·L−1 [8]. Therefore, clinical studies are urgently needed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of this antiviral nucleoside for COVID-19 treatment.