Glenmark Pharma cuts price of COVID-19 drug Favipiravir to Rs 75/tablet

New Delhi: Drug firm Glenmark Pharmaceuticals on Monday said it has cut price of its antiviral drug Favipiravir, under the brand name FabiFlu, for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19, by 27 per cent to Rs 75 per tablet.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals had launched FabiFlu last month at a price of Rs 103 per tablet.

In a regulatory filing Glenmark announced a price reduction of 27 per cent for FabiFlu. The new maximum retail price (MRP) is Rs 75 per tab, it 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," the filing 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," Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Senior Vice President and Head – India business Alok Malik said.

Further, 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, the filing added.

"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 added.

On June 20, Glenmark announced that it received manufacturing and marketing approval from India's drug regulator for FabiFlu, making it the first oral Favipiravir-approved medication in India for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19.

Glenmark 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, the company said.

Glenmark is also conducting another phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of two antivirals drugs Favipiravir and Umifenovir as a combination therapy in moderate hospitalised adult COVID-19 patients in India.

Shares of Glenmark Pharma were trading 1.34 per cent lower at Rs 421.00 apiece on BSE.