Shares of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals rallied 15 per cent to Rs 470 in the early morning trade on the BSE on Monday after the company on Saturday said it has launched antiviral drug Favipiravir, under the brand name FabiFlu, for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate Covid-19 at a price of about Rs 103 per tablet.

Till 09:17 am, a combined around 116,000 equity shares had changed hands and there were pending buy orders for 8.9 million equity shares on the NSE and BSE, the exchange data shows.

“The company has received manufacturing and marketing approval from India’s drug regulator, making FabiFlu the first oral Favipiravir-approved medication in India for the treatment of COVID-19,” Glenmark Pharma said in a statement.

This is a positive development for the company with short term benefits from the Indian market besides additional opportunity from export markets based approvals.

The drug will be available as a 200 mg tablet at an MRP of Rs 3,500 for a strip of 34 tablets. It is a prescription-based medication, with the recommended dose being 1,800 mg twice daily on day 1, followed by 800 mg twice daily up to day 14.

Favipiravir shows clinical improvements of up to 88 per cent in Covid-19, with a rapid reduction in viral load by 4 days. The clinical improvement noted across age groups 20 to less than 90 years, including in patients with co-morbid conditions like diabetes and heart disease suffering from mild to moderate COVID-19. The company to market the antiviral under the brand name ‘FabiFlu.

“This approval comes at a time when cases in India are spiralling like never before, putting tremendous pressure on our healthcare system,” said Glenn Saldanha, chairman and managing director of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals.

The company hopes that the availability of an effective treatment such as FabiFlu will considerably help assuage this pressure, and offer patients in India a much needed and timely therapy option.

The company has already started production of the drug. In some states, that are closer to the pharma company’s manufacturing unit in Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) the drug will be rolled out by the end of this week and across India, it will be supplied by early next week, Sujesh Vasudevan, president, India formulations, Middle East and Africa, at Glenmark said.