PremiumNEW DELHI: Hetero Healthcare Ltd on Wednesday launched the generic covid-19 drug favipiravir in India under the brand name Favivir at ₹59 per pill. The product is cheaper than those of earlier entrants Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Cipla Ltd.
The product is available at all retail and hospital pharmacies across the country starting today and will be sold only on prescription, the company said.
The Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company has been granted manufacturing and marketing approval for the anti-viral medicine by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) V.G. Somani, it said in a statement.
Favipiravir is used in the treatment of mild-to-moderate covid-19, and constitutes 122 pills over a period of two weeks, as per the clinical management protocol for the medicine allowed by the regulator. With that dosage, Hetero’s Favivir will cost ₹7,198 for the entire course.
Hetero’s Favivir is the second drug developed by Hetero for the treatment of Covid-19. Last month, the firm had launched Covifor, a licensed generic of Gilead Sciences Inc’s novel drug Remdesivir, for the treatment of severe covid-19 patients.
The drug will be being manufactured at its formulation facility in Hyderabad, which has been approved by stringent global regulatory authorities such as US FDA and the EU, among others.
