Significant turn in india for COVID-19 treatment.

Achievement of india in COVID-19.

Drug major Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has become the first Indian company to commercially launch an antiviral drug for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 patients after it received the Indian drug regulator Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approval.

The drug Favipiravir, under the brand name FabiFlu, 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. Effectively, one tablet of FabiFlu would cost Rupees 103. 

all you need to know about glenmark's COVID-19 treatment medicine:

• Glenmark is the first pharma firm to get approval for an oral drug to treat COVID-19 patients in India.
• Priced at Rs 3,500 for 34 tablets, the dosage is 200 mg X 9 tablets on day one and 200 mg X 4 tablets a day for 14 days.
• Global trials show the efficacy of over 80-88%; Japan, Bangladesh and UAE already use the drug for COVID-19 treatment.
• The drug will be available both through hospitals and the retail channel.
• Reportedly, Strides Pharma, Brinton Pharmaceuticals, Lasa Supergenerics and Optimus Pharma among firms readying its launch.
• Glenmark had developed the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and the formulation for FabiFlu through in-house R&D.
• Favipiravir is backed by strong clinical evidence, showing encouraging results in patients with mild to moderate Covid-19.
• Patients from over 10 leading government and private hospitals were enrolled for the study.
• It offers rapid reduction in viral load within four days and provides faster symptomatic and radiological improvement.
• Favipiravir has shown clinical improvement of up to 88 per cent in mild to moderate COVID-19 cases.
• Favipiravir has been approved in Japan since 2014 for the treatment of novel or re-emerging influenza virus infections.

Considering a minimum of two strips per patient, Glenmark said it will be able to provide FabiFlu for about 82,500 patients in the 1st month itself. They will then scale up and meet the healthcare needs of the country.

The company has developed the API and the formulation for FabiFlu through its in-house research and development team. Favipiravir has proven in-vitro activity against SARS CoV2 virus, which is the virus responsible for COVID-19.

Favipiravir had produced encouraging outcomes in clinical trials in Wuhan and Shenzhen involving 340 patients.

Patients who were given the medicine in Shenzhen turned negative for the virus after four days after becoming positive, compared with a median of 11 days for those who were not treated with the drug, public broadcaster NHK had said.

Important points that you need to note regarding glenmark's FabiFlu:

• The drug will soon be available in hospitals and stores in a pack of 34 oral tablets at moderately affordable prices
• It will be available in drug stores in a pack of 34 oral tablets of 200 mg each at a cost of Rs 3,500 and the cost of the 14-day treatment will be an estimated Rs 14,000.
• Each tablet of 200 mg will cost Rs 103.
• Method of use is oral intake
• Prescription-only medicine.