Initial results from Phase 3 clinical trial of an oral antiviral drug, Favipiravir in patients with mild to moderate Covid are encouraging, according to a study by an Indian-based pharmaceutical company, Glenmark.
Just a month after the company secured regulatory approval for the manufacturing and marketing of Favipiravir under the brand name FabiFlu to treat mild to moderate Covid, Glenmark yesterday announced that besides showing impressive outcomes, the trial demonstrates significant faster time to experiment the drug.
Zarir Udwadia, one of the Principal Investigators of the study said in a statement the results of the Indian Favipiravir study are encouraging.
“The trial was performed with a sense of urgency considering the gravity of the pandemic, yet scientific principles were not sacrificed.
I have had a chance to independently view the initial results and they are encouraging: Patients randomised to Favipiravir seemed to have faster clinical cure, and more importantly, faster viral clearance than those randomized to the routine care group,” he said.
“I eagerly await the final analysis and results from other ongoing studies from across the globe.
Till then, I feel we have enough evidence to consider using Favipiravir in symptomatic Covid patients who have mild to moderate infection,” he added.
Favipiravir is an oral antiviral drug approved for the treatment of influenza in Japan. It selectively inhibits RNA polymerase, which is necessary for viral reproduction.
Yesterday, Stanford University also announced that a new drug trial is underway to determine if an oral medication can treat four in five coronavirus cases with mild or moderate symptoms.
Favipiravir, is approved to treat flu in Japan and coronavirus in China, India and Russia.
Glenmark Pharmaceutical Company’s Vice President and Head - Clinical Development, Global Specialty/Branded Portfolio, Dr. Monika Tandon said the whole team in charge of the clinical trials is encouraged with the top-line results.
“This indicates that early treatment with favipiravir may improve clinical outcomes for mild to moderate patients and could potentially prevent patients from progressing to ARDS and mortality,” he added.
Source: PD Online