MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd May, 2023) The MIR 19 drug for coronavirus treatment, developed at the Institute of Immunology of the Federal Biomedical Agency (FMBA), will become available for purchase in Russia's pharmacies by the end of May and will be effective against the Arcturus variant of the virus, the FMBA has told Sputnik.
"The drug will appear in a number of pharmacies by the end of May this year," the FMBA said, adding that the dossier for MIR 19 has been amended so that the drug can be purchased with a doctor's prescription for use during outpatient treatment.
The detection of the Arcturus variant in Russia will not affect the effectiveness of the drug since it targets a highly conserved region of COVID-19 genes.
The Russian health care and consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said in mid-April that the Arcturus variant has been detected in Russia, and it can be more contagious, but there was no need to introduce new restrictions since it is "not highly pathogenic."
