JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia Approves Flu Drug’s Use Against Covid-19” – Wall Street Journal/ Lukas I. Alpert, Georgi Kantchev
The drug, favipiravir, got a temporary go-ahead after it produced positive but preliminary results in an early trial
“Russia’s Ministry of Health … approved a flu drug for use in fighting coronavirus after officials said preliminary testing showed hospitalized patients who took the pills recovered more quickly. … [F]avipiravir[] had produced promising results against coronavirus in early testing in Russia. Its approval makes it among the first in a global race to find effective treatments and eventually a vaccine for the virus. Western scientists … want[] to review the data … before judging whether other countries should add it to … of Covid-19 treatments. …”