Drug trials on coronavirus patients in China yielded mixed results, with an HIV pill showing little benefit and a flu medication made by Fujifilm Holdings Corp resulting in faster clearance of the virus.<\/p>\n
The combination of lopinavir and ritonavir, marketed by AbbVie Inc as Kaletra, didn\u2019t improve the condition of Covid-19 patients or prevent them from dying more than standard care in a randomized, controlled trial of 199 patients. The research was published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.<\/p>\n
A separate study of 80 patients receiving Fujifilm\u2019s favipiravir, or Avigan, found it helped clear the virus from patients a week earlier than the HIV medicine and was associated with improved chest symptoms shown on CT scans.<\/p>\n
The favipiravir study, which wasn\u2019t randomized, was conducted in a different group of patients and at a later time point when doctors might have discovered better ways to care for patients, Evercore ISI analyst Umer Raffat said in a note.<\/p>\n
The clincial research on favipiravir augers well for another anti-viral, Gilead Sciences Inc.\u2019s experimental drug remdesivir, which is also undergoing clinical trials in China, Tyler Van Buren, an analyst with Piper Sandler said. Results of the remdesivir study are yet to be published.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf successful, it could be approved for broad use in the coming months considering it\u2019s safe, the bar for efficacy in the context of the ongoing global pandemic is low,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n