New Delhi: India is set to begin trials on the Japanese flu drug favipiravir, which has emerged as a possible treatment measure against the Covid-19 infection.
The Mumbai-based Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Thursday announced that it has received approval from the Drug Controller General of India — the regulator in the country — to conduct clinical trials using favipiravir antiviral tablets on Covid-19 patients.
“The product is a generic version of Avigan of Fujifilm Toyama Chemical, a subsidiary of Fujifilm Corporation,” Glenmark said in the statement. “Glenmark has successfully developed the active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and the formulations for the product through its in-house R&D team.”
Favipiravir is an antiviral medication that was initially developed to treat influenza in Japan. In February, it was studied in China and other countries as an experimental treatment of Covid-19.
It is among the top drugs under trial for Covid-19 treatment along with the anti-malarial medicine chloroquine, Ebola drug remdesivir, a combination of HIV drugs lopinavir and ritonavir, as well as a combination of the latter two drugs infused with Interferon beta.
Favipiravir, however, is not part of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) solidarity trial yet despite informal discussions for its inclusion.
‘Solidarity’ trials are giant trials planned on a global level to compare untested treatment options to assess their effectiveness against Covid-19.
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Promising effects of the Japanese flu drug
A report in The Guardian in March said doctors in Japan were using the drug in clinical studies on Covid-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms.
The report also quoted Zhang Xinmin, an official in China’s science and technology ministry, as saying: “Favipiravir, developed by a subsidiary of Fujifilm with brand name Avigan, had produced encouraging outcomes in clinical trials in Wuhan and Shenzhen involving 340 patients.”
“It has a high degree of safety and is clearly effective in treatment,” Xinmin said.
The use of favipiravir showed definite improvements in lung condition in 91 per cent of the patients treated with it, compared to 62 per cent of those treated without the drug, the report added.
The drug, however, has not shown great results on patients with severe symptoms.
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Other drugmakers working on favipiravir
Apart from Glenmark, the Mumbai-based drugmaker Cipla and Bengaluru-based Strides Pharma have also developed the drug.
Strides on Wednesday said in its Bombay Stock Exchange Filings that it has developed favipiravir antiviral tablets.
The company will apply to DCGI for clinical trials in India and in the meantime, will export the drug to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
Cipla is also working on the development of the drug’s generic model but officially, the company hasn’t made any announcement yet.
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