Japan is expecting to begin clinical trials for vaccine to treat coronavirus in July, the country’s prime minister Shinzo Abe said on May 11.
Addressing the budget committee in parliament, Shinzo Abe revealed that work on vaccines are being carried on several institutions, including University of Tokyo, Osaka University and the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.
Noting vaccine trials had already begun outside the country, Abe said: “I hope vaccination programs can get underway at the earliest possible date by gathering the world’s wisdom,” Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported.
Abe added that his government is aiming to approve the anti-flu drug Avigan to treat COVID-19 by the end of this month.
Early in March, Avigan received praise from China National Center for Biotechnology Development which said the drug produced by Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings has been “effective against COVID-19” boosting shares of the company over 15% that day.
Last week, the Abe government approved another anti-viral drug – remdesivir, originally developed as a possible treatment for Ebola — for use against the deadly coronavirus, thus making it the country’s first official drug to treat coronavirus.