ArabFinance: Sabaa International for Pharmaceutical and Chemical Industry (SIPC) will suspend manufacturing Favipitavir, the drug treatments for covid-19.

The Egyptian drugmaker justified the suspension to the lack of economic feasibility of producing the medicine.

Sabaa posted a net profit of EGP 2.221 million in quarter one of 2021.

Favipiravir is an antiviral drug that has been licenced in Japan since 2014 to treat influenza. It works by inhibiting a viral enzyme called RNA polymerase, preventing viral replication within human cells. This viral enzyme is common to several viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.

The Egypt-based company is engaged in the pharmaceutical sector, with a generic product portfolio that includes products focused on different therapeutic categories.