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Budapest’s Semmelweis University is testing the effectiveness of a new experimental oral antiviral drug for patients who have contracted the COVID-19 virus.
Semmelweis University joined an international trial on August 23rd and was the first in the European Union to conduct a clinical trial under the program, and the second in the EU to have the product administered.
The approval and administrative procedures for the trial were completed in record time at the institutional level, the university revealed in a recent statement.
The antiviral pill is scheduled to be tested for another month at one of the University’s clinics under the leadership of Semmelweis rector, Béla Merkely, who is also a member of PM Viktor Orbán’s epidemiological team of experts.
“Those Covid-19 patients who come to Semmelweis University and meet the criteria will be offered the opportunity to participate in the trial,” said Merkely, who expects the number of participants in the study to increase following the recent increase in the number of covid cases in Hungary.
Participation in the study is open to non-hospitalized patients who have contracted the virus. The university will also provide the necessary transportation for them to participate in the study.
The trial has been approved by Hungary’s pharmaceutical authority OGYÉI following a positive review from Hungary’s Medical Research Council.
The aim of the program, which is being conducted at 400 locations worldwide, including six sites in Hungary, is to demonstrate whether the experimental oral antiviral medicine reduces the duration and/or severity of the COVID-19 infection.
Featured photo via Pixabay