Japanese pharmaceutical maker Shionogi & Co. said it is discussing a partnership with several global companies to market a pill for Covid-19 that is now undergoing human trials.
Shionogi said the pill showed superior safety in a small-scale Phase 1 trial and lowered virus levels in humans in line with expectations from animal studies.
It said a mid-stage Phase 2 trial is under way and it is trying to recruit more patients by looking to countries such as the U.K. and Singapore that have many Covid-19 cases. Currently Japan is recording only a few hundred new Covid-19 cases a day, limiting the potential pool for clinical trials.
Shionogi said it is in discussions with the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. and the European Medicines Agency over plans for a large-scale Phase 3 trial of the pill, code-named S-217622. It said it is building up production capacity for the drug but didn't say when it might reach the market.
Merck & Co. recently released results from a large-scale trial showing its Covid-19 pill, co-developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP, helped prevent high-risk patients from becoming seriously ill.
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