Fujifilm Holdings Corp. said Tuesday it expects its Avigan flu drug to be formally approved by early next year for treating patients infected with the Ebola virus.
A clinical test of the drug, which the firm says has helped cure four Ebola patients in Europe, will start this month in Guinea, led by the governments of the West African country and France.
Around 60 patients will join the test, while Avigan tablets could also be given to others living near the site where the test will be conducted. Tablets needed to treat 300 patients have already arrived in Guinea as part of the Japanese government's emergency aid, according to Fujifilm.
The test, approved by the World Health Organization, will likely continue until the end of the year, and it will then take about a month for the international community to approve Avigan as a treatment for Ebola.
The drug, also known as favipiravir, was developed by Fujifilm subsidiary Toyama Chemical Co.
After obtaining approval, the use of Avigan to treat Ebola patients could increase "dramatically," Fujifilm Chief Executive Officer Shigetaka Komori said at a news conference in Tokyo.
The Tokyo-based photo film and business machinery maker also announced its management plan for the three-year period through fiscal 2016, identifying drug development as one of its core businesses.
But the firm also reiterated that it currently can't measure any possible impact on its earnings from the growing demand for Avigan.
Fujifilm has said it also will produce the drug in preparation for its administration to a larger number of Ebola patients.
Fujifilm has provided Avigan in response to requests from governments and medical organizations treating patients evacuated from West Africa, where the epidemic has killed thousands.
It currently has sufficient stock to treat 20,000 patients, and has sufficient ingredients to make more.