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Coronavirus

Shionogi files for COVID oral drug approval after delay in trials

Osaka-based company is the first to develop treatment pill in Japan

Shionogi aims to make the drug available to the public this year. (Source photos by Jiji and courtesy of Shionogi)

TOKYO -- Japanese drugmaker Shionogi on Friday filed for emergency use approval for its COVID pill, paving the way for Japan's first domestically developed oral COVID treatment.

The drug, code-named S-217622, prevents the coronavirus from replicating in infected cells by inhibiting its protease, an enzyme for protein production. The drug has been in the clinical trial stage since July.

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