MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th October, 2020) The Russian Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare (Roszdravnadzor) said on Friday that it had not received any reports about the favipiravir antiviral drug's adverse reactions, the possibility of which was previously reported by the PharmaCOVID information center.
The information center for the pharmacotherapy of COVID-19 patients has published a research paper claiming that favipiravir, which has produced positive results in a Phase 3 trial, may have a side effect of movement disorders.
"According to the Pharmaconadzor 2.0 database of the automated information system of Roszdravnadzor, at the moment there have been no reports on the development of reactions associated with nonspecific motor disorders, including falls," the statement read.
The watchdog's press service added that the drug manufacturers, as well as pharmacists and physicians, were obliged to inform Roszdravnadzor about any side effects and adverse reactions.
"Roszdravnadzor pays special attention to monitoring the safety of these medicinal products, and if there is a need to change the instructions for the medical use of these medicinal products, such changes will be made in accordance with the current legislation," the watchdog noted.
Koronavir, known under the international nonproprietary name favipiravir, is the third favipiravir-based Russian medication greenlighted by the country's health ministry since the end of May. The approval for Koronavir came on July 8. Clinical trials have proven the drug effective in stopping SARS-CoV-2 from replicating in patients with mild and moderate symptoms.
The health ministry has also approved two other favipiravir-based Russian medications, Avifavir and Areplivir.
