scorecardresearch
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Support Our Journalism
HomeHealthSun Pharma gets approval to test pancreatitis drug nafamostat for Covid treatment

Sun Pharma gets approval to test pancreatitis drug nafamostat for Covid treatment

Sun Pharma says nafamostat has shown promise in fighting against the virus in in-vitro studies conducted by 3 groups of scientists in Europe, Japan and South Korea.

Follow Us :
Text Size:

New Delhi: Mumbai-based Sun Pharmaceutical Friday announced it has received approval from the Drug Controller General of India to conduct clinical trials of a pancreatitis medication, Nafamostat Mesilate, on Covid-19 patients. 

Nafamostat has been approved in Japan for improvement of acute symptoms of pancreatitis and treatment of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC).

Korean researchers have claimed they have found the drug “more effective than remdesivir in treating Covid-19”.

“Our experiment on 24 therapeutic candidates for inhibiting the coronavirus in human lung cells found that Nafamostat, an anticoagulant that is also used to treat pancreatic cancer, was the most potent antiviral inhibitor,” Kim Seung-taek, director of the Zoonotic Virus Lab at the Institut Pasteur Korea, told a Korean publication. 

Sun Pharma, the country’s largest drug-maker, said: “Considering the pandemic situation and urgent need for newer treatment options, Sun Pharma plans to initiate the clinical trials at the earliest.”

“Sun Pharma is constantly evaluating potential targets that can be explored for treating Covid-19 patients,” said Dilip Shanghvi, managing director, Sun Pharma, in a press statement. 

“Nafamostat has shown promising data against SARS-CoV-2 virus in in-vitro studies conducted by three independent groups of scientists in Europe, Japan and South Korea. We believe it holds promise in the treatment of Covid-19 patients,” he added. 

The company has initiated manufacturing of both the API and the finished product of nafamostat in India using technology from its subsidiary, Pola Pharma Japan.

It may also test its “plant-based” drug — which is still in the trial stage and meant for the treatment of dengue — to see if it can treat Covid-19 patients.

The manufacturer of Revital tablets and Volini gel has been developing the phytochemical-based drug to treat dengue for the last four years.


Also read: Indian drugmakers begin developing remdesivir, ‘world’s best shot’ against Covid-19


Positive results demonstrated by Nafamostat

Sun Pharma plans to check the drug’s efficacy to treat Covid patients after “a group of scientists from the University of Tokyo, Japan, and Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Germany, recently demonstrated that Nafamostat, at very low concentrations, suppresses a protein (TMPRSS2) that the Covid-19 virus uses to enter human lung cells,” the company said in the statement.  

The company further added “another group from Institut Pasteur, South Korea, also published data comparing antiviral efficacy of 24 drugs and nafamostat, against SARS-CoV-2 in in-vitro studies in human lung epithelial derived cells”.

In this research, nafamostat was found to be the most potent drug and was able to inhibit virus entry at very low concentrations, consistent with findings from Japan and German labs.

Globally, there are three clinical trials currently underway to test Nafamostat in Covid-19 patients, which are led by the University of Tokyo Hospital, Gyeongsang National University Hospital in South Korea and a collaborative trial by University Hospital, Padova, Italy, University of Zurich, Switzerland, and Yokohama City University, Japan.


Also read: If our drugs work, they will likely be effective on Covid-22, Covid-24 too


 

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Telegram & WhatsApp

Support Our Journalism

India needs fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. ThePrint – with exceptional reporters, columnists and editors – is doing just that.

Sustaining this needs support from wonderful readers like you.

Whether you live in India or overseas, you can take a paid subscription by clicking here.

Support Our Journalism

1 COMMENT

  1. Your Choice of Protective Gear Matters!
    COVID-19, more commonly known as the Corona-virus, is causing havoc across the globe, having brought nearly the entire world to a grinding halt. Guidelines issued by the World Health Organization are clear about how the COVID-19 infection spreads. An infectious disease with clear evidence of human-to-human transmission, it is spread primarily through respiratory droplets that are expelled when people cough, sneeze or exhale. It is communicable from the infected/carriers via touch or by touching contaminated surfaces/objects and then touching your mouth or face. Common symptoms of the disease are confusing, highly similar to those associated with the flu, including fever, tiredness and dry cough. Most people experience mild respiratory distress but the elderly are more susceptible and can become seriously ill, often needing critical care. Similarly people with underlying medical conditions are at a higher risk. While the world grapples to contain the spread of this disease, global healthcare organisations have issued clarity about the safety measures everyone should adopt to keep the infection away.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular