Dr. Reddy's Ends Review Of Covid-19 Drug Avigan In Kuwait

Drug major Dr. Reddy's Laboratories said on Wednesday it had terminated its clinical study of Fujifilm Holdings' Covid-19 treatment Avigan in patients with moderate to severe symptoms in Kuwait.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories is an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Hyderabad, Telangana.

Data from the Kuwait trial, conducted in partnership with United Arab Emirates-based medical alliance Global Response Aid FZCO (GRA), showed that the difference in time taken by Avigan and placebo to resolve a sustained absence of oxygen in the tissues was not significant enough to continue the trial.

Fujifilm, Dr. Reddy's and GRA had entered into a deal in July to sell Avigan globally excluding Japan, China and Russia.

Avigan was approved as an anti-flu drug in Japan in 2014, and Fujifilm has been seeking approval for the drug as a treatment for Covid-19 since October.

The Japanese health ministry's medical review board last month concluded that clinical trial data to determine Avigan's efficacy for Covid-19 was inconclusive.

Dr. Reddy's,  in partnership with GRA and Canada's Appili Therapeutics, will continue a late-stage North American trial of Avigan in patients with mild to moderate Covid-19 symptoms.

Several Indian drugmakers, such as Cipla, Lupin and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, offer their own generic versions of Avigan to treat Covid-19.

India, which has the second-highest number of coronavirus infections in the world, is in the middle of its first phase of Covid-19 vaccinations and has vaccinated nearly 2 million healthcare workers as of Monday.

On the National Stock Exchange, Dr. Reddy's closed at Rs 4,902, down -3.55 per cent from its previous close.