Glenmark's Antiviral Combination For Moderate Covid-19 Shows No Benefit

India's Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd said on Friday its clinical trial testing a combination of the antiviral drugs umifenovir and favipiravir in moderate hospitalized Covid-19 patients did not show any significant benefit.

The trial's findings confirm that the addition of umifenovir does not show any incremental benefit in clinical outcomes, Monika Tandon, senior vice president & head, Clinical Development, Global Specialty/Branded Portfolio at the company, said in a statement, adding that favipiravir alone remains the effective choice for mild to moderate Covid-19 infection.

Favipiravir is made under the brand name Avigan by Japan's Fujifilm Holdings Corp and was approved for use as an anti-flu drug there in 2014, while umifenovir is licensed as a treatment for some types of flu infections in Russia and China.

Fujifilm last month said a late-stage study of Avigan showed it reduced recovery times for Covid-19 patients with non-severe symptoms.

Mumbai-based Glenmark in July said its version of favipiravir alone showed promise in a late-stage study of patients with mild to moderate coronavirus infection.

Total coronavirus cases in India rose to 6.91 million on Friday, according to health ministry data. The country's death toll from the virus rose past 100,000 on Saturday, with the pandemic showing no signs of abating.

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor