Coronavirus: Glenmark Pharma launches an antiviral drug, FabiFlu, to treat COVID-19
New Delhi : The world has been plagued by the coronavirus pandemic and has left us all fearing for our lives. With rapid testing, the confirmed coronavirus cases continue to rise and so does the death toll. This virus has managed to claim numerous lives. This virus has an incubation period of 14 days and has no vaccine or cure yet. The researches across the globe have been rushing to find some medication to treat this virus and reduce the death rate, many pharmaceutical companies have been rushing to create a vaccine to save lives.
Around the 11th of June, Russia finally approved the first antiviral drug, Avifavir which is generically known as favipiravir, to treat COVID-19 after it showed promising results in the clinical trials. This came as good news for Indian because the Mumbai based pharmaceutical giant, Glenmark was in the midst of clinical trials for the same drug favipiravir for the treatment of coronavirus.
On Friday, 19th of June, 2020, Glenmark announced that it had received approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for the antiviral drug Favipiravir, which will be sold under the name of FabiFlu by the company. This is the first oral antiviral drug to be approved by India for the treatment of coronavirus. This drug will be used to treat mild to moderate COVID-19 infected patients. A strip of 34 tablets is priced at Rs. 3500/- which is Rs. 103 per tablet.
Today morning, as soon as the market opened, Glenmark pharmaceutical's share price went through the roof. This is the highest intraday hike seen in a long time in the midst of COVID-19 crisis. The price went as high as Rs. 572 per share as compared to the price it closed at on Friday which was Rs. 409.10. Glenmark's FabiFlu will be available in all hospitals and retail channels soon. This drug has come at a time when India is struggling with a large number of confirmed coronavirus cases which continues to rise along with the death toll. This medication might be just what we need to save numerous lives during this global pandemic.
