FabiFlu
Over nine million people have tested positive for COVID-19 so far, out of which, 4,25,000 are Indians. With the advent of such a disastrous pandemic, the need for it’s treatment becomes all the more important.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals is a research-led pharmaceutical company in India which has received approval for officially manufacturing and marketing Favipiravir, an antiviral drug to be used for treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 patients. After this approval, Favipiravir has become the first approved oral medication for the treatment of COVID-19 in India. This drug shall be available by the name Fabiflu and is priced at Rs, 103 per tablet. Glenmark has also become the first Indian pharma company to have received the approval for conducting phase 3 clinical trials on COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms.
Considering a minimum of two strips per patient, Glenmark said it will be able to provide Fabiflu to about 82,500 patients in the first month itself. They will then scale up and meet the healthcare needs of the country.
It is an oral product which means it does not require hospitalization. This will reduce the burden on the hospitals and it’s staff to some extent. The medicine is said to result in the rapid reduction in viral load within four day and provide faster symptomatic and radiological improvement.
Following are certain drugs which are being used to treat COVID-19 in different countries-
1. Favipiravir: the Japanese Flu drug
Favipiravir is an antiviral drug which was developed by a Japanese pharma company, Fujifilm Toyama Chemical, to treat influenza and thus, it is also known as the Japanese Flu drug. Favipiravir was approved as an experimental treatment for COVID-19 infections in China in February 2020. According to scientists, the drug shows antiviral activity against all the subtypes of influenza virus strains including influenza A, B, and even avian influenza.
2. Remdesivir: the Ebola drug
Remdesivir was first developed by Gilead Sciences, a US-based pharma company, during the outbreak of ebola. Since the drug did not work well on ebola patients, it was tested against coronavirus strains, SARS and MERS, in the year 2017. The research showed that Remdesivir had the ability to stop the enzyme RNA polymerase which was necessary for virus multiplication. This ensured that the virus could not spread in the body. Since then, it has been tested in various countries for its effectiveness against COVID-19 infection.
3. Hydroxychloroquine: the Anti-malarial drug
Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was first developed in India for the treatment of malaria, however, the drug is also a disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) which helps in reducing swelling and pain in arthritis patients. Some laboratory and in-vivo studies have suggested that HCQ has the ability to prevent COVID-19 infection. Since then, many nations including India, have been using hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic drug.
4. Tocilizumab: the Rheumatoid arthritis drug
Tocilizumab is an anti-rheumatoid arthritis drug which is being tested against SARS-CoV-2 virus by the National Cancer Institute in Naples and the trial is called TOCIVID-19. Tocilizumab is actually a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody which has the ability to mimic the natural antibodies produced by the immune system of the body in response to the bad microorganisms that enter the body. The trial is ongoing and the drug is being used to treat pneumonia caused by the COVID-19 infection.
5. Ivermectin: the Anti-parasitic drug
Ivermectin is a drug which is used for the treatment of head lice and intestinal worms. On testing the drug against the novel coronavirus, scientists found that ivermectin could restrict the growth of SARS-CoV-2 virus present in a cell within 48 hours and kills it eventually. Ivermectin has also been effective against other viruses such as dengue, influenza and even HIV. The medication is still under trial.
