Glenmark’s favipiravir accelerates viral clearance and clinical recovery in COVID-19 patients
pharmafile | July 24, 2020 | News story | Medical Communications, Research and Development | COVID-19, coronavirus, favipiravir; Glenmark
The antiviral treatment favipiravir, in development from Glenmark Pharma, has shown promise as a potential COVID-19 therapy after hitting its targets in a Phase 3 study.
The study evaluated the use of the drug, in combination with standard of care, in 150 participants with mild to moderate forms of COVID-19, and it was found to generate 28.6% faster viral clearance of the virus compared to placebo with supportive care alone.
Furthermore, the therapy demonstrated 40% faster achievement of “clinical cure” in patients, as defined by normalisation of clinical signs such as temperature, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate and cough compared to the placebo arm; 69.8% of patients achieved this milestone four days following treatment, compared to 44.9% with placebo.
“For the patients in the Glenmark favipiravir trial, there appears to be faster clinical improvement, two days earlier than standard care alone. Given these results, we believe Glenmark’s favipiravir may prove beneficial to mild to moderate patients with COVID-19 globally,” commented Cynthia Caracta, Vice President of Clinical Sciences and Global Respiratory Specialty and Innovative Medicines at Glenmark US.
The drug has already secured approval in India for the treatment of COVID-19, where it is sold under the brand name FabiFlu, as well as in Russia since May. Multiple international trials are ongoing to amass sufficient efficacy data to file regulatory applications with major worldwide regulators.
Matt Fellows
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