Fujifilm accelerates production of flu antiviral Avigan for COVID-19

Japanese conglomerate Fujifilm Corp (TYO: 4901) says it has expanded its manufacturing capacity at Fujifilm Toyama Chemical significantly, to increase production of its influenza antiviral drug Avigan (favipiravir) for treating patients with COVID-19.

To further boost the supply of Avigan, the company is allocating additional capacity at its Fujifilm Wako Pure Chemical facility in Japan, for production of pharmaceutical intermediates used to manufacture Avigan. In addition, Fujifilm has established strategic partnerships with domestic and overseas companies for various manufacturing processes to source raw materials and pharmaceutical substances.

Fujifilm expects to progressively increase the monthly production of Avigan up to 100,000 treatment courses by July 2020, around 2.5 times more compared to the beginning of March, when the company first began its current production run. In addition, Fujifilm plans to further accelerate production up to 300,000 treatment courses by September 2020.