MOSCOW: Russia's sovereign wealth fund and its partner Chemrar will supply the COVID-19 drug Avifavir to 17 additional countries, the fund said in a statement on Thursday.

Avifavir gained approval from the Russian health ministry in May and is based on favipiravir, which was developed in Japan and is widely used there as the basis for viral treatments.

Clinical trials in Japan and Russia have confirmed those drugs' efficacy, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said in a statement.