Favipiravir

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals announced on Wednesday that phase three of the favipiravir clinical trials has demonstrated a marked improvement in curing mild-to-moderate Covid infections, with 70% patients reportedly achieving clinical cure.

A study conducted by five researchers, including two from Odisha, stated that novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) could develop resistance to favipiravir, one of the few antiviral drugs extensively used in India and other countries against mild-to-moderate cases of Covid-19.

Even as the police continue to crack down on those selling fake remdesivir, another racket — in what is touted to be the country’s first case of counterfeit anti-viral drug favipiravir — has been busted in the state. The state food and drugs control authority carried out statewide raids and seized 5,850 tablets worth Rs 7.5 lakh sold by a fake pharmaceutical manufacturing firm to seven pharma outlets in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat and Bhavnagar.

While World Health Organisation (WHO) on Thursday recommended against using antiviral remdesivir for severely ill Covid-19 patients, Mumbai doctors published the first scientific study showing another antiviral, favipiravir, reduced "cure time" in mild cases.

The country’s first case of counterfeit Covid anti-viral drug, favipiravir, being sold under the brand Favimax-400 and Favimax-200 turned out to be starch tablets. The tablets, which were seized by the Gujarat FDCA on Monday, had been sent to the highly specialized state FDCA lab to be tested for generic drug content. However, these tablets failed the tests on Tuesday.

As the demand for favipiravir shoots up due to the surge in Covid-19 cases, the state government has informed the Supreme Court that it had a stock of 4 lakh tablets of 200mg strength as on April 27.

Biophore India Pharmaceuticals, a city-based firm, has received license from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to manufacture favipiravir, an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), used in the finished formulation to treat mild to moderate Covid-19 cases.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday said it has initiated Phase 3 clinical trials on antiviral drug favipiravir to check its efficacy on COVID-19 patients in India. The Mumbai-based company had received approval from Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) last month to conduct clinical trials of favipiravir antiviral tablets for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

India’s drug regulator on Friday approved `restricted emergency use’ of antiviral drug favipiravir, making it one of the first such oral treatments for Covid-19 in the country. The approval paves the way for Mumbai-based Glenmark to launch favipiravir (FabiFlu) for treatment of mild-to-moderate Covid-19 patients.

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In what may indicate a clear reduction in Covid-19 cases, zero tablets of favipiravir were sold in February in the state, according to data from the Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) of Gujarat. favipiravir is an anti-viral medicine used for treating Covid-19 and is prescribed to those who are getting treated at hospital and at home.

The price of favipiravir (200mg) tablet is Rs 600 in Russia, Rs 378 in Japan, Rs 350 in Bangladesh and Rs 215 in China.

The health department has issued directions to find out about the efficacy of antiviral drug favipiravir used for treatment of Covid-19 patients.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals on Thursday said it has become the first company in India to receive approval from DCGI to conduct clinical trials of favipiravir antiviral tablets to treat COVID-19 patients. Having internally developed the API and the formulations for the product, the company received approval for conducting the trial on mild to moderate patients.

The current favipiravir trial was conducted from May 3 to July 3 among 150 patients admitted at Breach Candy Hospital on 75 patients and another 'control group' received some other drugs. "The median time to cessation of viral shedding was five days versus seven days in the control group," said the study.

Generic pharmaceuticals maker MSN Group on Thursday announced the rollout of the cheapest Covid-19 treatment drug favipiravir 200 mg at Rs 33 per tablet under the Favilow brand. Jenburkt Pharmaceuticals’ Favivent was hitherto the cheapest favipiravir 200mg offering at Rs 39. The company said it is also gearing up to launch favipiravir 400mg in the market soon.

Two antiviral drugs-- favipiravir and remdesivir—recently greenlighted for treatment of Covid-19 patients in India have a Gujarat connection. While remdesivir generic version is now being manufactured in Vadodara, the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) of favipiravir is being made at Ankleshwar in the state.

The state government on Saturday came up with a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the use of favipiravir tablets by Covid-19 patients during home isolation. It has advised patients to take the medicine strictly under supervision and report side-effects immediately.

Mumbai-based Glenmark defended the pricing to the drug regulator of its Covid-19 drug, FabiFlu (favipiravir) on Tuesday, saying it’s lower as compared to other countries, and as against therapies approved under 'emergency use'.

Mumbai-based veterinary API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) firm Lasa Supergenerics and Institute of Chemical Technology, jointly announced that the venture is planning to manufacture around 10,000 doses of anti-viral favipiravir initially, and will apply for the drug licence soon.

India's Hetero wins approval to sell COVID-19 drug favipiravir

An off-patent anti-viral drug, favipiravir, originally discovered by Fuji Pharma in Japan, has shown promise in clinical trials for treatment of COVID-19 patients, especially in mild and moderate cases.

CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT) developed a cost effective process using locally available chemicals to synthesise this Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) and transferred the technology to Cipla.

Drug major Lupin on Wednesday announced the launch of its favipiravir drug under the brand name 'Covihalt' for the treatment patients with mild to moderate Covid-19 symptoms at Rs 49 per tablet in India. The drug is available as 200 mg tablets in the form of a strip of 10 tablets, and priced at Rs 49 per tablet.

Medicines used for Covid treatment such as favipiravir and Remdesivir are in short supply in both NCR cities. A sudden surge in demand appears to be the reason. The last batch of favipiravir, according to some chemists that TOI spoke to, had April expiry dates and was returned to suppliers as demand was low since winter. “We do not keep much stock except for a few strips of favipiravir since it is not used for any other treatment. The demand has shot up suddenly in the past 10 days,” said Anoop Khanna, president of the chemists’ association of Gautam Budh Nagar.