Kowa Co Ltd, a Japanese trade and pharmaceutical firm, announced on Monday that the anti-parasite medicine ivermectin shown a “antiviral activity” against Omicron and other coronavirus strains in cooperative non-clinical study.

Further information was not provided by the firm.

The company has been investigating the medicine, which is used to treat parasites in animals and people, as a potential cure for COVID-19 alongside Kitasato University, a medical university in Tokyo.
Clinical trials are still underway, however the drug’s advertising as a COVID-19 therapy has sparked debate.

The medicine is not licensed in Japan for the treatment of COVID-19, and the US Food and Drug Administration, the World Health Organization, and the European Union’s drug agency have all advised against using it.