Japan’s Shionogi & Co has signed a basic agreement with the government to supply an oral Covid-19 treatment it is now developing, the company said on Friday.
The government is considering buying a million doses of the drug pending regulatory approval, the company added in a statement.
Its shares surged as much as 3.9% on the news, versus a decline of 0.3% in Tokyo’s benchmark index.
Last month Shionogi sought approval of the pill, a protease inhibitor known as S-217622 that would become Japan’s third antiviral approved for coronavirus patients, following those developed by Pfizer and Merck & Co.
Chief executive Isao Teshirogi has said production could reach 10 million doses a year.
The company has global aspirations for the pill, saying last week it would launch a phase 3 trial worldwide with US government support.
The trial is a randomised, double-blind, 48-week study that will evaluate the safety and efficacy of S-217622 among participants who have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.
The volunteers would have started experiencing symptoms within five days of enrolling, and have one or more risk factors that makes them more likely to progress to severe Covid-19.
- Reuters, with additional editing by George Russell
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