INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PROGRESSIVE RESEARCH IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, VOL.2, NO.8, AUGUST 2021. LEILA JAN R. DIMAIWAT., et.al: META-ANALYSIS ON THE POTENCY OF FAVIPIRAVIR AGAINST SARS-COV-2 AND ITS EFFECT ON URIC ACID LEVELS 523 Meta-Analysis on the Potency of Favipiravir against SARS-CoV-2 and its Effect on Uric Acid Levels Leila Jan R. Dimaiwat 1 , Andrea Mae V. Sales 1 , Maria Nicole L. Saltarin 1 , Iolla Marie B. Sanchez 1 , Miguel Iñigo A. Sebastian 1 , Rupert Joseph P. Turla 1 , David Thomas S. Catapia 2 , Carlo Ledesma 3 , Sherill D. Tesalona 1 1 Department of Medical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines. 2 Department of Pathology, University of Santo Tomas Hospital, Manila, Philippines. 3 Medical Laboratory Technology/Phlebotomy Program, Rose State College, Midwest City. Oklahoma, United States. Corresponding Author: migueliñigo.sebastian.pharma@ust.edu.ph Abstract: - An outbreak of a novel virus, SARS-CoV-2, reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019, caused COVID-19 which led the WHO to declare a state of pandemic due to its high morbidity rates. More than 300 clinical trials have emerged in determining potential sources of treatment. One of the most studied drugs is Favipiravir, an antiviral agent known for treating influenza, which is said to exhibit effects in targeting SARS-CoV-2. Uric acid elevation is one of the adverse effects that may be of clinical importance upon administration to patients with hyperuricemia, impaired kidneys, undertaking medications and with history of gout due to redevelopment of disease. This study aimed to provide a valid estimate of Favipiravir’s potency by determining the proportion of patients who were tested negative for COVID-19 after 10 days and to review the occurrence of uric acid elevation. A search method with inclusion and exclusion criteria was utilized for browsing online databases, namely PubMed, Science Direct, and Embase. Two data mining processes were done and analyses for each objective were made using Mantel-Haenszel Fixed Effects Odd Ratio and Forest Plot. Incidence of viral negativity after 10 days with OR 1.76[0.90, 3.43] and overall effect Z of 1.67 (P = 0.10) showed no statistical significance while occurrence of uric acid elevation with OR 30.69 [1.78, 528.82] and overall effect Z of 2.36 (P = 0.02) showed statistical significance. In conclusion, administration of Favipiravir has no effect on the clearance of SARS-CoV-2 after 10 days and can cause an increase in uric acid levels. Key Words: — COVID-19, Favipiravir, Uric Acid. I. INTRODUCTION SARS-CoV-2 is a virus responsible for this recent and ongoing worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. It started last December 2019 as an initial outbreak at the Seafood market in Wuhan City China. Due to the growing concerns regarding social, economic and health impacts, scientists and health practitioners all over the world are in search of treatments in combating this disease. With this, more than 300 clinical trials have emerged and certain agents are being studied based on in vitro or observational studies [1]. A widely known antiviral agent in treating strains of Influenza called Favipiravir is being studied due to its promising effects in combatting COVID-19 shown in several clinical trials. Favipiravir, developed by Toyama Chemical Fujifilm, acts as a matching substrate to RdRp (RNA dependent RNA polymerase) causing inhibition to the replication process of RNAs [2]. Clinical outcomes of several conducted clinical trials have shown Favipiravir to exhibit increased potency than Lopinavir and Ritonavir [3], decreased the symptoms of pneumonia [4], and decreased the incidence of fever and cough and possess a higher clinical recovery rate by 7 days [5]. Favipiravir combined with other drugs such as with the addition of Tocilizumab improved pulmonary inflammation [5] and a reduction in mortality rate and inhibition of hypercoagulopathy is seen with the addition of Nafamostat mesylate [6]. As promising as it may seem, the appearance of some adverse effects that can cause clinical significance are inevitable. Some of the reported clinical adverse effects of Favipiravir are as follows; diarrhea and liver injury [7], prolongation of QT intervals and TdP (Torsade de Pointes) [8], teratogenicity, increased analytes such as ALT, AST, GGT, blood triglycerides Manuscript revised August 23, 2021; accepted August 24, 2021. Date of publication August 26, 2021. This paper available online at www.ijprse.com ISSN (Online): 2582-7898