**MOSCOW, January 26 — RIA Novosti. One of the developers of the Novichok combat poisoning system, Leonid Rink, intends to release an antiviral and immunomodulatory agent "Immofon" in the near future, which can fight COVID-19 and a number of other viral diseases, he told RIA Novosti.** The drug is based on the drug "Diutsifon" (synthesized in the USSR in 1967). It was intended for the treatment of leprosy and until the 2000s, as Rink said, was on the list of vital medicines. The new product eliminates the main drawback of the Soviet development — poor dissolution in water and, accordingly, in blood plasma. Updated medicine called "Imion". Inside the drug, the agency interlocutor stressed, a strong foreign antiviral agent "Dapsone" and two methyluracil molecules are combined, designed to activate the metabolism in tissues and stimulate the regeneration process. In addition to fighting the coronavirus, the new drug is designed to treat lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, allergies, leukemia and lung diseases. To date, the drug has been tested on about 700 elderly patient volunteers, according to Rink. "There was not a single severe stage and no death after infection," the scientist said. Now his company "Inter-Regional Trade and Industrial Association "InterVita" is engaged in the production of experimental batches of a new drug to test its effect in various pathologies. Negotiations are also underway with the Ministry of Health and other regulators on the release of pre-filled syringes and IVs to the market. According to Rink, one dose of the drug will cost approximately about a thousand rubles. A large number of investors are ready to invest in financing the industrial production of the drug, the scientist claims. He noted that the effectiveness of "Diucifon" is confirmed by clinical trials, there are more than 650 publications on the successful treatment of various pathologies with the drug. Rink admitted that he took up drugs after the end of the development of chemical weapons in Russia in the 1990s. Then he and his colleagues found work in pharmaceutical companies. In particular, the source continued, during the two Chechen campaigns, his laboratory at one of the domestic enterprises produced up to 85 percent of the narcotic painkiller promedol for the Russian army. Also, the scientist on the assignment of the State Institute of Organic Synthesis Technology worked with the Research Laboratory of Immunochemotherapy of leprosy. The medicine for leprosy in those years was produced with a violation of the technical process, so the output turned out to be a different chemical formula, because of which the production had to be stopped. After finding out the circumstances, it was properly adjusted and in 1997, according to Rink, the last patient was discharged from the leper colony that used this medicine. "That is, they literally cured this disease (leprosy. - Ed.)", - said the scientist. In the future, the drug was used for some time as an immunocorrective agent for the complex therapy of HIV infection and AIDS. https://ria.ru/20210126/koronavirus-1594567567.html