As President Donald Trump was extolling the promise of a malaria medication from the desperate hunt for coronavirus therapies, one of the greatest worldwide allies had been attempting to sell the whole world in his own"trump card," a light yellow pill which he said could be key to fighting the pandemic.

This supposed beacon of trust would be an antiviral medicine called Favipiravir, also its proponent is Shinzo Abe, Japan's prime minister.

Mr. Abe has pushed the most non invasive medication in news conferences and in meetings with world leaders, including a call using Mr. Trump along with the other heads of the group . He has allocated nearly $130 million to triple an existing design of the drug. And he has wanted to make it liberated to heaps of nations.

The minister has glossed over one crucial reality: there's absolutely no evidence that Favipiravir is effective from Covid-19. There are constrained findings it will work for virtually any illness in human beings while the medication has shown possibility of curing some mortal diseases like Ebola in animal studies.

Exactly what Favipiravir, whose name is Avigan, does happen can be a peculiar regulatory historical past and one side effect that was dangerous -- birth defects. Mr. Abe himself noticed in a press conference on Monday that the unwanted influence was"exactly the very same as thalidomide," which brought on deformities in thousands of infants in the 1950s and'60s.

At an identical period, Mr. Abe predicted for Avigan to become eligible for usage against Covid-19 at the close of the month. His extremities to its drug, for example Mr. Trump's reviews for its anti-malarial medicine hydroxychloroquine, are adding to concerns that federal leaders may warp careful drug approval processes by creating unusual interventions in service of unproven medications.

The boosterism of the prime minister has helped buy Avigan in to over 1,000 medical centers in Japan, and the country's foreign ministry says not quite 80 states have requested the drug.

"We are all impatient. We want a drug yesterday," explained Susan Ellenberg, a professor in the University of Pennsylvania who focuses on clinical trials. "But we're not going to know everything works before we perform these studies."

Doctors are testing an array of medications Like the entire world clamors to get coronavirus remedies. Several states initiated or have suggested trials of avigan.

For leaders, even backing win international status, fortify fortunes, the perfect treatment may save lives and supercharge corporate income. Promoting the drug may be disastrous.

Even the Food and Drug Administration last week warned the also a related medication, chloroquine plus hydroxychloroquine, could have effects on heart rhythm. In a extreme example, a person in Arizona died after eating a bass tank additive that had the very same ingredient because chloroquine.

Favipiravir's increase has not slowed. The drug has the backing of one of Japan's most effective businesses whose subsidiary Toyama Chemical formulated Favipiravir. The Chinese authorities has attested contrary to Covid-19 to the security and potency.

On Japanese television, doctors are calling that the pill a savior that is possible, and have offered glowing testimonials.

But this proof is totally anecdotal, claimed Masaya Yamato, leader of infectious diseases in Rinku General Medical Center in Osaka, who functioned to a 20-16 government panel which thought the drug .