PremiumStrides Pharma today announced that it has developed and commercialized Favipiravir Antiviral tablets, which is a generic version of Avigan of Toyama Chemical, Japan. Favipiravir is an antiviral medication that was initially developed to treat influenza in Japan. And in February, after the outbreak of coronavirus, Favipiravir was studied in China and several other countries as an experimental treatment of Covid-19.
"The drug has demonstrated positive outcomes, including a reduction in the duration of Covid-19 and improved lung conditions for the patients," Strides Pharma said.
Shares of Strides Pharma today zoomed 18% to ₹442. In comparison, the Sensex was up over 1% in afternoon trade.
Strides has developed Favipiravir tablets in 400mg and 200mg strengths for convenient dosage administration.
The product is currently being exported to Gulf Cooperation Council countries to treat patients under their treatment program for Covid-19, the Bangalore-based pharma company said.
Strides will also immediately apply to Indian drug authorities to commence necessary studies and make the drug available to Indian patients expeditiously, the company said.
Favipiravir tablets are being manufactured at Strides facility in Bangalore, which can produce up to 6 billion units of solid orals annually and is approved by USFDA among others. Strides has also entered into a preferred arrangement with an Indian API manufacturer for the supplies of Favipiravir API.
Commenting on the development, Dr R Ananthanarayanan, CEO and Managing Director, stated “We are pleased to be the first Indian company to develop and commercially launch Favipiravir tablets for the global markets. Favipiravir has already demonstrated positive outcomes in several studies on Covid-19 patients, and we are hopeful that the treatment regime with Favipiravir would brace up our fight against this virus."
