2021 sales of COVID-19 antiviral Avigan (Favipiravir) illustrate the rise in demand for antiviral drugs by public health authorities with $100 million in sales

USA, April 22, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Cellvera, a US commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing antiviral therapies to transform patients’ lives today, confirms $100M in sales for Favipiravir in 2021 and PCAOB 2021 audited accounts with $50M in revenues and EBITDA $12.1M. Cellvera holds directly, or through its affiliates worldwide (excluding Japan), exclusive rights to Avigan 200mg and Qifenda, the higher strength formulation of Favipiravir . This broad-spectrum oral antiviral drug targets COVID-19 and 12 other viral families.

Cellvera generates revenues from worldwide sales of Avigan through its 50% equity stake in Global Response Aid (“GRA”) and with the direct sales of Qifenda. GRA is part of a consortium that includes Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (NYSE: RDY), Agility (KSE/DFM: AGLTY), and FUJIFILM Toyama Chemical Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of FUJIFILM Holdings (FUJIY). The consortium members work together to coordinate and accelerate the worldwide development of Avigan.

The rise in demand for antiviral drugs by public health authorities is best illustrated by sales of Avigan, which have spiked from a standing start at the beginning of 2021 to $100 million by December 2021. Cellvera expects 2022 revenue to grow trajectory 400% as negotiations with governments continue for Avigan and Qifenda.
Avigan is already approved and in use to treat COVID-19 and/or influenza in seven countries, including Japan, Mexico, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and UAE, as part of various countries’ strategy to prevent the spread of COVID-19, treat those infected, reduce community transmission and alleviate hospitalization rates. Many other countries are buying the drug under compassionate use programs, including the United Kingdom, , Greece, Hungary, and Saudi Arabia. The benefit of oral antiviral treatments is that they fight COVID-19 in the community instead of in a hospital setting. Antivirals can safely and effectively speed up recovery from early-onset COVID-19, reduce the duration of patient viral loads and lower the ability of the virus to spread, addressing the three key metrics that coronavirus is measured against infection, hospitalization, and deaths.

There is an increase in forecast sales precipitated by further regulatory approvals and government purchases of Avigan and Qifenda. This is coupled with the oral route of administration, being hailed as a game-changer for at-home COVID-19 treatments. This is of particular importance considering the increase in Omicron infections and new variants arising.

Commenting on its audited revenues, Cellvera CFO Alessandro Gadotti said: “ We are pleased with our performance in 2021 and have forecast a strong trajectory in revenues for 2022. The spike in demand for Avigan and Qifenda is reflective of the shifting strategic approach for how public health authorities aim to suppress the pandemic, and we now know that COVID-19 will not be eradicated in the near term.” Gadotti continued, “We are in the process of ramping up production capabilities to meet future expected demand in dealing with COVID-19 and to prepare for the threat of future pandemics. Discussions with governments continue, and we are working to further strengthen the development of the drug through a series of planned clinical trials. The cascade of new regulatory approvals and scaled operations will strengthen our position in the coming 12-months, setting us up for significant growth.”


ABOUT FAVIPIRAVIR
Favipiravir, discovered and developed by FUJIFILM, was first approved under the brand name Avigan^® by regulators in Japan in 2014 as a potent broad-spectrum antiviral treatment for influenza. This antiviral drug is effective against 12 families of viruses, including coronaviruses (COVID, MERS, SARS), Filoviruses (EBOLA, MARBURG), Flaviviruses (ZIKA, WEST NILE, DENGUE), RABIES, NOROVIRUS, and many others. Favipiravir works by inhibiting a viral enzyme called RNA polymerase, preventing viral replication within human cells. Favipiravir has potent antiviral activity against single-stranded RNA viruses, including coronaviruses. This is the protein responsible for “building” the viral proteins. Favipiravir can target the protein necessary for the coronavirus to replicate, making it impossible for the virus to copy itself.

About Cellvera:
Cellvera is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing oral therapies and monitoring tools to address the unmet medical needs of patients with life-threatening viral diseases.
Leveraging the Company’s deep understanding of antiviral drug development, nucleotide chemistry, biology, biochemistry and virology, Cellvera has built a nucleotide prodrug platform to develop novel product candidates to treat single stranded ribonucleic acid, or ssRNA, viruses, which are a prevalent cause of severe viral diseases.
Currently, Cellvera is focused on the clinical and commercial development of orally available, potent, and selective nucleotide prodrugs for difficult-to-treat, life-threatening viral infections, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS- CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, dengue virus, hepatitis C virus (HCV) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Driven to Discover. Cellvera’s team includes PhDs in computational biology, biochemistry, and chemistry, as well as senior software engineers.

About Global Response Aid (GRA)
Agility (KSE/DFM: AGLTY), one of the world’s leading logistics companies and CELLVERA, an innovative pharma research, development and commercialization company based in Dubai, established Global Response Aid (GRA) to address the market challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic and other threats to public health. GRA delivers innovative, effective healthcare solutions through a range of pharmaceutical products and technology platforms. It works closely with governments, regulatory authorities, hospitals, clinics, healthcare providers, life sciences companies, NGOs and public institutions to develop strategies that allow them to tackle public health challenges.
For more information: www.globalresponseaid.com

About FUJIFILM
FUJIFILM Corporation, Tokyo, Japan is one of the major operating companies of FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation. The company brings cutting edge solutions to a broad range of global industries by leveraging its depth of knowledge and fundamental technologies developed in its relentless pursuit of innovation. Its proprietary core technologies contribute to the various fields including healthcare, graphic systems, highly functional materials, optical devices, digital imaging and document products. These products and services are based on its extensive portfolio of chemical, mechanical, optical, electronic and imaging technologies. For the year ended March 31, 2020, the company had global revenues of $21 billion, at an exchange rate of 109 yen to the dollar. Fujifilm is committed to responsible environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship.

For more information holdings.fujifilm.com

mary o brien
Cellvera
+971 50 116 4708
email us here

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.