New Delhi: The pharma giant Glenmark Pharmaceuticals on Monday said it has reduced the prices of its antiviral drug Favipiravir, under the brand name FabiFlu, for treating the patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 to Rs 75 per tablet which is 27 percent. Earlier, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals had launched FabiFlu last month at a price of Rs 103 per tablet.
The filing by Glenmark said, “The price reduction has been made possible through benefits gained from higher yields and better scale, as both the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and formulations are made at Glenmark’s facilities in India, the benefits of which are being passed on to patients in the country.”
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Senior Vice President and Head – India business Alok Malik said, “Our internal research shows us that we launched FabiFlu in India at the lowest market cost as compared to the cost of Favipiravir in other countries where it is approved. And now we hope that this further price reduction will make it even more accessible for patients across the country,”
The filing further added that, “the company has commenced a post marketing surveillance (PMS) study on FabiFlu to closely monitor the efficacy and safety of the drug in 1,000 patients that are prescribed with the oral antiviral, as part of an open label, multicenter, single arm study.”
“We expect this post marketing surveillance study to shed more light on the drug’s clinical effectiveness and safety in a large cohort of patients prescribed FabiFlu,” Malik further added.
Glenmark announced on June 20 that it has received manufacturing and marketing approval from India’s drug regulator for FabiFlu, as the first oral Favipiravir-approved medication in India for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19.
The company has also completed the phase 3 clinical trial with Favipiravir (FabiFlu) in mild to moderate COVID-19 patients in India. The trial results will be available shortly, according to company.
