Drugmaker Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has started post-marketing surveillance on 1,000 patients with Covid-19 who were given FabiFlu, its brand of antiviral favipiravir. This is to monitor the efficacy and safety of the drug in these patients as part of an open label, multi-center, single arm study, the company said.

Glenmark has also announced a price reduction of 27 per cent for FabiFlu®. The new MRP is ₹75 per tab from the earlier ₹103 per tab.

“The price reduction has been made possible through benefits gained from higher yields and better scale, as both the API and formulations are made at Glenmark’s facilities in India, the benefits of which are being passed on to patients in the country,” it added. A company official told BusinessLine that the price-cut was not linked to competitionas more companies lined-up to bring out their versions of the drug.

The developments come even as reports last week said that a Japanese University found that the antiviral did not show that it was more effective in treating Covid-19 patients in early stages of the infection.

In-house production

Meanwhile, Glenmark said it had successfully developed the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and the formulation for FabiFlu® through its own in-house research team within the country, ensuring self-reliance for long-term production and manufacturing.

The API is manufactured at the Gujarat production facility, which is approved by regulatory authorities in the US and UK, while the formulation or finished product is manufactured at the facility in Himachal Pradesh, which is also approved by both authorities, the company said.

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