Innovative electrochemical sensor for the precise determination of the new antiviral COVID-19 treatment Favipiravir in the presence of coadministered drugs

Mohamed, Mona A.; Eldin, Ghada M.G.; Ismail, Sani M.; Zine, Nadia; Elaissari, Abdelhamid; Jaffrezic-Renault, Nicole; Errachid, Abdelhamid

Due the current pandemic of COVID-19, an urgent need is required for serious medical treatments of a huge number of patients. The world health organization (WHO) approved Favipiravir (FAV) as a medication for patients infected with corona virus. In the current study, we report the first simple electrochemical, greatly sensitive sensor using MnO2 -rGO nanocomposite for the accurate determination of Favipiravir (FAV). The developed sensor showed a high improvement in the electrochemical oxidation of FAV comparing to the unmodified screen-printed electrode (SPE). The suggested platform constituents and the electrochemical measurements parameters were studied. Under optimal experimental parameters, a current response to the concentration change of FAV was found to be in the linear range of 1.0x10-8 – 5.5x10-5 M at pH 7.0 with a limit of detection 0.11 µM and a quantification limit of 0.33 µM. The developed platform was confirmed by the precise analysis of FAV in real samples including dosage form and plasma. The developed platform can be applied in different fields of industry quality control and clinical analysis laboratories for the FAV determination.