The entire world is shaking under coronavirus pandemic which is killing lakhs of people irrespective of their stature. Scientists and pharma companies from across the world have been working hard to find a vaccine or medicine to cure coronavirus positive patients.
Finally, India scored over foreign scientists and companies when it found a cure for COVID 19. Glenmark developed FabiFlu for coronavirus treatment and ICMR approved it for treatment in the country. FabiFlu costs Rs 103 per tablet. A pack of 34 tablets of FabiFlu costs Rs 3500. Indian Drug regulator Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) gave permissions for the company to market and manufacture the tablets after which it will be launched in the Indian market.
Apart from Mumbai based Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Delhi based Strides Pharma, Mumbai base Lasa Supergenerics and Hyderabad based Optimus Pharma have also applied for approval and are ready to launch the product. Glenmark developed FabiFlu along with active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in its in-house research and development.
Glenmark is also studying the combination of two antiviral drugs Favipiravir (an approved drug for novel flu pandemics) with Umifenovir (an approved drug for Influenza) in COVID 19 patients. The tablets are being used in Bangladesh and UAE. Favipiravir used in therapeutic management is sold under the brand name Avigan by Fujifilm Toyoma Chemical.