Coronavirus drug: Interferon Alpha-2b has been used in the treatment of COVID-19 in China and Cuba.
Cadila Healthcare shares rose as much as 5 per cent on Tuesday, a day after the Ahmedabad-based drug maker said it is exploring the biologicals route to treat the COVID-19 disease. In a regulatory filing, Cadila Healthcare (Zydus Cadila) said its biological therapy, Pegylated Interferon alpha-2b, (PegiHepTM), can emerge as one of the pathways to treat the coronavirus (COVID-19). Shares in Cadila Healjthcare rose as much as 5.03 per cent to touch Rs 349.80 apiece on the BSE, compared to their previous close of Rs 333.05.
On the National Stock Exchange, Cadila Healthcare shares rose as much as 5.01 per cent to touch an intraday high of Rs 349.90.
"The treatment has emerged after the publication of two non-peer reviewed research articles at bioRxiv and medRxiv, the COVID-19 pre-print servers hosted by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory," Zydus Cadila said in a press release.
"When the human body contracts an infection due to a viral attack, it produces a group of molecules called Type 1 interferons as a first line of defense. Interferon alpha is one such Type 1 Interferon molecule, that not only slows down the viral replication but also helps activate the two arms of our immune system - Innate, for immediate killing of the virus and Adaptive, for long lasting immunity," Zydus Cadila added.
The Interferon alpha-2b drug has been used in the treatment of COVID-19 in China and Cuba, and is a part of treatment guidelines of the Chinese government. Zydus has been commercially manufacturing Pegylated Interferon alpha-2b under the brand name PegiHep since 2011, the company said.
Meanwhile, Cadila Healthcare has also approached the Government of India to investigate the role of Pegylated Interferon alpha-2b for COVID 19 treatment.
At 2:21 pm, Cadila Healthcare shares traded 4.01 per cent higher at Rs 346.40 on the BSE, outperforming the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex index which was down 3.35 per cent amid a broad-based selloff.
In a separate development, Morepen Laboratories surged 10 per cent after the company got a license to manufacture malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, seen as a treatment for COVID-19, news agency Reuters reported.
