A Japanese pharmaceutical company has said the controversial drug Ivermectin shows an 'antiviral effect' against Omicron and other Covid-19 coronavirus variants in joint non-clinical research.
Kowa Co Ltd, which has been working with the Kitasato University in Tokyo on testing the drug, has not provided further details.
The news was reported by Reuters, which misstated that ivermectin was 'effective' against Omicron in Phase III clinical trials, which are conducted in humans.
Its use has been championed by some - including actor and anti-lockdown campaigner Laurence Fox, who recently revealed he was taking the drug after contracting Covid.
And podcast host Joe Rogan has also said he took Ivermectin - along with monoclonal antibodies, prednisone, a vitamin drip and other treatments - when he had Covid.
Ivermectin, which is normally prescribed to both humans and animals as an anti-parasitic treatment, is on the World Health Organisation's "essential medicines list".
However, WHO has previously said "the current evidence on the use of Ivermectin to treat Covid-19 patients is inconclusive" and that it "recommends that the drug only be used within clinical trials ".
The drug is not approved for treatment of Covid in Japan, and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, the World Health Organization, the EU drug regulator and Merck (MRK.N), which makes the drug, have warned against its use because of a lack of scientific evidence that it has therapeutic effect.
And it has previously been described as an "animal medicine" by drug giant Pfizer in a Reuters 'fact-checking' article.
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