NEW DELHI: Shares of drug firm
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals
surged on Monday after it launched antiviral drug Favipiravir for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate Covid-19 symptoms.
The drug Favipiravir, under the brand name FabiFlu, has been kept at a price of about Rs 103 per tablet.
Shares of the drug major zoomed as much as 40 per cent in the intra day trade before settling 27.06 per cent higher at Rs 519.80 on the BSE platform. Equity indices also finished in green led by gains in pharma and financial stocks.
The drug will be available as a 200 mg tablet at a maximum retail price (MRP) of Rs 3,500 for a strip of 34 tablets, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said.
FabiFlu is the first oral favipiravir-approved medication in India for the treatment of Covid-19, the pharma company said in a statement.
It is a prescription-based medication, with recommended dose being 1,800 mg twice daily on day one, followed by 800 mg twice daily up to day 14, it added.
The tablets are being produced by the company at its Baddi facility in Himachal Pradesh. The drug will be available both through hospitals and the retail channel, Glenmark said.
The Mumbai-based firm had on Friday received the manufacturing and marketing approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).
(With PTI inputs)