Indian drug major Cipla has come forward to work with Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) to develop three broadspectrum antiviral drugs - Favipiravir, Remidesivir and Bolaxavir - against novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
As part of the announcement, IICT, which is part of the publicly funded Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) will develop active pharma ingredients (APIs) of the three antiviral drugs.
Cipla will take care of testing, regulatory approvals and subsequent mass production. The plan is to get the pilot batch ready in the next 6-10 weeks. IICT may receive royalties through this collaboration.
It isn't Cipla alone; another small Indian drug maker Lasa SuperGenerics is taking the help of Indian Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai to develop Favipiravir.
In this case too, the arrangement is similar. The public-funded ICT will develop the drug and Lasa will fund the bio-equivalence study, regulatory approval and commercial launch.
These drugs, which were facing obscurity, are showing some promise against COVID-19, making drug companies interested.
Favipiravir is an old antiviral drug being developed by Toyama Chemical of Japan with activity against many RNA viruses such as influenza, Ebola, yellow fever, chikungunya, norovirus and enterovirus. The drug isn't protected by any patents in India. In February 2020, Beijing-based Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings began testing the drug on patients in China for the treatment of COVID-19 disease. The drug is getting tested on patients in Japan and South Korea as well. The results are expected in two weeks' time.
Remidesivir, an experimental drug developed to fight Ebola virus but failed in human trials, is currently being testing on coronavirus patients in China. The drug developed by Gilead is the one that the World Health Organisation (WHO) thinks of having real efficacy on COVID-19 patients. The results of the drug are expected in a weeks' time.
Moneycontrol couldn't confirm whether Gilead had filed for patents of Remidesivir or not.
Bolaxavir was discovered by Japanese drug maker Shionogi & Co., is being further developed and commercialised across the globe in collaboration with Roche. Moneycontrol couldn't verify whether Shionogi or Roche had any patent claims on the drug in India.
A paper published in the open-access Cell Research journal in early February also identified Remdesivir, along with Chloroquine, as potential treatments for COVID 19.
The study has generated interest among drug makers on Chloroquine, the 70-year-old widely used anti-malarial medicine. It has been found to be a potential broad-spectrum antiviral drug.
"Chloroquine is a cheap and safe drug that has been used for more than 70 years and, therefore, it is potentially clinically applicable against the 2019-nCoV," the study published on Cell Research journal stated.
More than 10 companies sell Chloroquine in India including Ipca, Bayer, Merck, FDC and Zydus Pharma.
Other drugs being tried against COVID-19 include ribavirin, interferon, lopinavir-ritonavir and corticosteroids. The efficacy of these drugs is yet to be proved.
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