Pharmacies have stopped selling the anti-coronavirus drug favipiravir

Russian pharmacies do not sell an antiviral drug with the international nonproprietary name favipiravir. It remains in the recommendations of the Ministry of Health for the treatment of coronavirus, although many studies have proven its ineffectiveness. Manufacturers confirmed RBC reduction in production volumes. The Ministry of Industry and Trade noted that Russian reserves of the drug amount to more than 3.6 million packages, but only 30.7 thousand are in pharmacies.

In Moscow, favipiravir is not available in all 2.4 thousand pharmacies connected to the Megapteka online aggregator. The situation is similar in St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Izhevsk, Saratov, Samara, Krasnodar and Voronezh. The press service of the Asna Group of Companies (according to the DSM Group, unites more than 17.5 thousand pharmacies) reported that favipiravir is not in the price lists of suppliers. Roszdravnadzor claims that the last time the drug was put into circulation was in March, but the department did not specify the volume of batches.

Various versions of favipiravir are registered with five Russian companies. RBC RBC confirmed a decrease in production volumes, explaining this by “market needs” and a decrease in the incidence of coronavirus. The company has a stock of the drug in case demand arises. Promomed noted that the production of anti-coronavirus drugs has moved “to normal mode in accordance with needs” due to the fact that COVID-19 has become seasonal. The company assured that it is ready to increase production as soon as possible when demand arises. Asna Group said that favipiravir is not a widely known drug. The company associates its low popularity with its high cost.

The Russian Ministry of Health believes that production volumes have decreased due to an “improvement in the epidemic situation.” Authorities have not received information about the cessation of production. The drug can also be replaced with drugs with the international nonproprietary names molnupiravir, cmifenovir and nirmatrelvir + ritonavir.

The Ministry of Health noted that only 4% of the drug was sold through pharmacies. The main part is used to treat patients in inpatient and outpatient settings. The Ministry of Industry and Trade also noted that in total in Russia as of February 29, the remains of favipiravir amounted to more than 3.6 million packages. Only 30.7 thousand of them are from pharmacies, 2.8 million from distributors.

Favipiravir was developed in the early 2000s by the Japanese company Fujifilm Toyama Chemical Co. In 2020, it began to be used as a cure for coronavirus. In Russia, the drug was registered in 2020. It was included in the guidelines for the treatment of COVID-19. Later, Aichi Prefecture University in Japan and the international company Appili Therapeutics showed in their studies that favipiravir has not proven effective in treating COVID-19.

Why doctors and teachers will no longer be required to get vaccinated against coronavirus – in the Kommersant publication “Vaccination for the vulnerable”.

Leonid Uvarchev