Cipla announced that it has been granted regulatory approval by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for the launch of Favipiravir in the country under the brand name Ciplenza.
The announcement was made after market hours on Friday. Shares of Cipla fell 0.9% to settle at Rs 665.50 on Friday.
Favipiravir is an off patent, oral anti-viral drug that has been shown to hasten clinical recovery in COVID -19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms.
The accelerated approval for manufacturing and marketing of the drug is aimed at meeting the urgent and unmet medical need for COVID-19 treatment options in the country through restricted emergency use.
As part of its efforts to enable speedy access to cater to the demand, Cipla will commercially launch Ciplenza in the first week of August priced at Rs 68 per tablet. To ensure fair and equitable distribution of the drug, supplies will be undertaken predominantly through hospital channels and via open channels, prioritised for regions with a high burden of COVID-19 cases.
The drug has been jointly developed by Cipla and CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT). As part of this partnership, CSIR-IICT has successfully developed a convenient and cost-effective synthetic process for Favipiravir. The entire process and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) of the drug has been transferred to Cipla to manufacture and market the drug at scale.
Cipla's consolidated net profit fell 33.02% to Rs 245.95 crore on 0.67% fall in total income to Rs 4,469.37 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019.
Cipla is a global pharmaceutical company. The company has presence in respiratory, antiretroviral, urology, cardiology, anti-infective and CNS segments.
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