Zenara Pharma Receives Nod To Sell Covid-19 Drug Favipiravir

Zenara Pharma, a fully owned subsidiary of Biophore India Pharmaceuticals, has received an approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to manufacture and sell Favipiravir tablets for treating patients with mild to moderate symptoms of Covid-19. The tablet, to be sold under the brand name 'Favizen', will be manufactured at Zenara's US FDA approved facility in Hyderabad.

Favipiravir and remdesivir have emerged as the most sought-after medicines to treat Covid-19 in India and have already been approved by the drugs regulator as emergency treatments to fight the coronavirus outbreak.

Dr Jagadeesh Babu Rangisetty, Co-founder and Managing Director, said, "In the ongoing pandemic, it has become extremely critical for pharmaceutical companies to quickly provide safe and effective treatment options for patients with Covid-19. I am proud to say that we have our own in-house API and are not dependent on any imports for the production."

So far, Favipiravir has demonstrated positive clinical outcomes in some trials and has already been approved for use to treat Covid-19 in Russia and parts of the Middle East. Advanced stage trials are currently underway in several countries including India.

Zenara Pharma is in talks with state institutions and hospitals in India to ensure that Favizen is readily available for patients. The company is also likely to tie up with other partners to increase patient coverage. Internationally, Zenara has already begun exports to the Middle East and Latin American countries.

Recently, on July 29, Hetero Labs had received regulatory approval to sell its version of anti-viral drug favipiravir to treat COVID-19.

Other Indian drug makers developing or selling favipiravir include Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Cipla, privately held Brinton Pharma and Jenburkt Pharmaceuticals.