India will be starting clinical trials soon on four anti viral drugs against Covid-19 as part of the World Health Organization solidarity trial, a welcome move offering hope for a possible cure for the deadly disease.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has announced on wenedsay that these drugs will be the part of the solidarity trial- Remdesivir, Chloroquine/Hydroxychloroquine, Lopinavir-Ritonavir and Lopinavir-Ritonavir with Interferon (ß1a).
All three drugs, excluding Remdesivir are generic drugs and manufactured by Indian companies. Remdesivir is the new drug by US drug maker Gilead. The company gave voluntary license earlier this week for three Indian companies to manufacture the drug for India and 126 other low and middle income countries.
Choloroquine/Hydroxycholoroquine are anti malarial drugs while Interferon (ß1a) is used in treatment of Hepitites C and the combination of Lopinavir-Ritonavir is used for treatment of HIV.
The main objective of the Solidarity trial which is being launched by WHO is to rapidly discover whether any of the above drugs is effective against the treatment of Covid-19 patients and the initiative is expected to provide speedy recovery. “The Solidarity trial provides simplified procedures to enable even overloaded hospitals to participate”, according to ICMR.
Sheela Godbole, Senior Scientist and National Coordinator for the Solidarity trial in India said that, “The required regulatory and ethical approvals have already been obtained and clinical trial sites have started to recruit patients in the trial.”
