U.S. NIH starts trial for Shionogi's COVID-19 pill

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Wednesday that it had started a clinical trial to evaluate Japan's Shionogi & Co Ltd's (4507.T) experimental oral antiviral drug to treat COVID-19.

The drug, S-217622 or ensitrelvir, will be tested in adult patients hospitalized with COVID-19. It is already approved for emergency use in Japan.

Ensitrelvir is an oral antiviral agent taken once daily for five days to suppress replication of the virus.

The trial will enroll about 1,500 people from different sites across the world, the government health organization said in a statement.