How off-the-shelf drugs are making Indian pharma firms interested in fight against COVID-19

[BL33D]

Indian drug major Cipla has come forward to work with Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) to develop three broadspectrum antiviral drugs - Favipiravir, Remidesivir and Bolaxavir - against novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

As part of the announcement, IICT, which is part of the publicly funded Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) will develop active pharma ingredients (APIs) of the three antiviral drugs.

Cipla will take care of testing, regulatory approvals and subsequent mass production. The plan is to get the pilot batch ready in the next 6-10 weeks. IICT may receive royalties through this collaboration.

It isn't Cipla alone; another small Indian drug maker Lasa SuperGenerics is taking the help of Indian Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai to develop Favipiravir.

In this case too, the arrangement is similar. The public-funded ICT will develop the drug and Lasa will fund the bio-equivalence study, regulatory approval and commercial launch.

These drugs, which were facing obscurity, are showing some promise against COVID-19, making drug companies interested.

Favipiravir is an old antiviral drug being developed by Toyama Chemical of Japan with activity against many RNA viruses such as influenza, Ebola, yellow fever, chikungunya, norovirus and enterovirus. The drug isn't protected by any patents in India. In February 2020, Beijing-based Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings began testing the drug on patients in China for the treatment of COVID-19 disease. The drug is getting tested on patients in Japan and South Korea as well. The results are expected in two weeks' time.

Remidesivir, an experimental drug developed to fight Ebola virus but failed in human trials, is currently being testing on coronavirus patients in China. The drug developed by Gilead is the one that the World Health Organisation (WHO) thinks of having real efficacy on COVID-19 patients. The results of the drug are expected in a weeks' time.

Moneycontrol couldn't confirm whether Gilead had filed for patents of Remidesivir or not.

Bolaxavir was discovered by Japanese drug maker Shionogi & Co., is being further developed and commercialised across the globe in collaboration with Roche. Moneycontrol couldn't verify whether Shionogi or Roche had any patent claims on the drug in India.

A paper published in the open-access Cell Research journal in early February also identified Remdesivir, along with Chloroquine, as potential treatments for COVID 19.

The study has generated interest among drug makers on Chloroquine, the 70-year-old widely used anti-malarial medicine. It has been found to be a potential broad-spectrum antiviral drug.

"Chloroquine is a cheap and safe drug that has been used for more than 70 years and, therefore, it is potentially clinically applicable against the 2019-nCoV," the study published on Cell Research journal stated.

More than 10 companies sell Chloroquine in India including Ipca, Bayer, Merck, FDC and Zydus Pharma.

Other drugs being tried against COVID-19 include ribavirin, interferon, lopinavir-ritonavir and corticosteroids. The efficacy of these drugs is yet to be proved.

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/b...rested-in-fight-against-covid-19-5056201.html

 

[BL33D]

Finally, this is pushing our generic drug makers to produce active ingredients at home instead of being dependent on China. Needs more push.

 

[maithil]

Indian drug major Cipla has come forward to work with Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) to develop three broadspectrum antiviral drugs - Favipiravir, Remidesivir and Bolaxavir - against novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

As part of the announcement, IICT, which is part of the publicly funded Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) will develop active pharma ingredients (APIs) of the three antiviral drugs.

Cipla will take care of testing, regulatory approvals and subsequent mass production. The plan is to get the pilot batch ready in the next 6-10 weeks. IICT may receive royalties through this collaboration.

It isn't Cipla alone; another small Indian drug maker Lasa SuperGenerics is taking the help of Indian Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai to develop Favipiravir.

In this case too, the arrangement is similar. The public-funded ICT will develop the drug and Lasa will fund the bio-equivalence study, regulatory approval and commercial launch.

These drugs, which were facing obscurity, are showing some promise against COVID-19, making drug companies interested.

Favipiravir is an old antiviral drug being developed by Toyama Chemical of Japan with activity against many RNA viruses such as influenza, Ebola, yellow fever, chikungunya, norovirus and enterovirus. The drug isn't protected by any patents in India. In February 2020, Beijing-based Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings began testing the drug on patients in China for the treatment of COVID-19 disease. The drug is getting tested on patients in Japan and South Korea as well. The results are expected in two weeks' time.

Remidesivir, an experimental drug developed to fight Ebola virus but failed in human trials, is currently being testing on coronavirus patients in China. The drug developed by Gilead is the one that the World Health Organisation (WHO) thinks of having real efficacy on COVID-19 patients. The results of the drug are expected in a weeks' time.

Moneycontrol couldn't confirm whether Gilead had filed for patents of Remidesivir or not.

Bolaxavir was discovered by Japanese drug maker Shionogi & Co., is being further developed and commercialised across the globe in collaboration with Roche. Moneycontrol couldn't verify whether Shionogi or Roche had any patent claims on the drug in India.

A paper published in the open-access Cell Research journal in early February also identified Remdesivir, along with Chloroquine, as potential treatments for COVID 19.

The study has generated interest among drug makers on Chloroquine, the 70-year-old widely used anti-malarial medicine. It has been found to be a potential broad-spectrum antiviral drug.

"Chloroquine is a cheap and safe drug that has been used for more than 70 years and, therefore, it is potentially clinically applicable against the 2019-nCoV," the study published on Cell Research journal stated.

More than 10 companies sell Chloroquine in India including Ipca, Bayer, Merck, FDC and Zydus Pharma.

Other drugs being tried against COVID-19 include ribavirin, interferon, lopinavir-ritonavir and corticosteroids. The efficacy of these drugs is yet to be proved.

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/b...rested-in-fight-against-covid-19-5056201.html

Chloroquine if successful w

Finally, this is pushing our generic drug makers to produce active ingredients at home instead of being dependent on China. Needs more push.

Every major country should try to become independent as far as major APIs are concerned. This Chinese virus might wake up govts in world to threat of blackmail by a certain country if Supply chain is totally dependent on that country.

 

[denel]

Chloroquine if successful w


Every major country should try to become independent as far as major APIs are concerned. This Chinese virus might wake up govts in world to threat of blackmail by a certain country if Supply chain is totally dependent on that country.

ditto. This is why i never believed in globalisation. you become too dependent on other suppliers.

 

[Chhatrapati]

ditto. This is why i never believed in globalisation. you become too dependent on other suppliers.

Everyone wants to be independent. But, price point is the biggest issue. You can buy from local suppliers but whatever you buy from Local suppliers, China can provide the same at a cheaper price point. Corona is a one-off situation, we can't expect D day every year and stock local supplies.

 

[denel]

Everyone wants to be independent. But, price point is the biggest issue. You can buy from local suppliers but whatever you buy from Local suppliers, China can provide the same at a cheaper price point. Corona is a one-off situation, we can't expect D day every year and stock local supplies.

true but i think the genie is out of the box and we may be expecting to see many variants yearly of this chinese bug.

 

[Type59]

Indians need to realise each company has spent hundreds of millions developing drugs. I understand the need for cheaper drugs, but if you just copy without creating own products then less companies will invest in making drugs. Btw Japanese drug is less then a decade old. Justify stealing by saying its old.

Favipiravir is an old antiviral drug being developed by Toyama Chemical of Japan with activity against many RNA viruses such as influenza, Ebola, yellow fever, chikungunya, norovirus and enterovirus. The drug isn't protected by any patents in India. I

 

[Chhatrapati]

Indians need to realise each company has spent hundreds of millions developing drugs. I understand the need for cheaper drugs, but if you just copy without creating own products then less companies will invest in making drugs. Btw Japanese drug is less then a decade old. Justify stealing by saying its old.

Your argument is valid until you need cheaper drugs for you or your family. Generic drugs are needed for those who can't afford $1000 / injection. Ask the Chinese, they have a strict policy against generic import of Cancer drugs that, one patient with leukemia had to smuggle the drug from India for him and his fellow patients.

 

[Type59]

Your argument is valid until you need cheaper drugs for you or your family. Generic drugs are needed for those who can't afford $1000 / injection. Ask the Chinese, they have a strict policy against generic import of Cancer drugs that, one patient with leukemia had to smuggle the drug from India for him and his fellow patients.

Why silly? I said people need affordable drugs but firms creating new drugs should also be rewarded. Indian generic drug manufacturers do not have research facilities to make new original drugs. I find it ironic your relying on another company products for free, at least negotiate buying licence.

 

[BL33D]

Why silly? I said people need affordable drugs but firms creating new drugs should also be rewarded. Indian generic drug manufacturers do not have research facilities to make new original drugs. I find it ironic your relying on another company products for free, at least negotiate buying licence.

That is why they get 20 years of patent. And most of the drug companies recover their expense within 1-2 years of sale. The absurd price of research and recovery is a myth and verified by industry experts.

https://newrepublic.com/article/153864/innovation-drug-price-myth
https://www.citizen.org/news/pharmaceutical-research-costs-the-myth-of-the-2-6-billion-pill/

 

[Baba_Yaga]

Indians need to realise each company has spent hundreds of millions developing drugs. I understand the need for cheaper drugs, but if you just copy without creating own products then less companies will invest in making drugs. Btw Japanese drug is less then a decade old. Justify stealing by saying its old.

New drugs are extremely rare. More often thant not, most of these companies do evergreening, so our courts refuse to give them patents. They take an old drug, change a few molecules to make it slightly more effective, and then release it as a new drug.

 

[Turingsage]

Indians need to realise each company has spent hundreds of millions developing drugs. I understand the need for cheaper drugs, but if you just copy without creating own products then less companies will invest in making drugs. Btw Japanese drug is less then a decade old. Justify stealing by saying its old.

First , Indian companies copy drugs that they are permitted BY LAW to copy when the patent expires on a drug. They can also come to agreements with the original company to vastly expand production after paying a licence fee and sharing the profits and REDUCING the cost of the drug.
Indian companies patent HUNDREDS OF DRUGS . Go and look up the patents.
Indian companies have saved the lives of millions of citizens of the world, including hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis

 

[Chhatrapati]

^^ Hope you got your answer.

Why silly? I said people need affordable drugs but firms creating new drugs should also be rewarded. Indian generic drug manufacturers do not have research facilities to make new original drugs. I find it ironic your relying on another company products for free, at least negotiate buying licence.

 

[Nilgiri]

Indian companies patent HUNDREDS OF DRUGS . Go and look up the patents.

Most of these people dont bother to look up the actual source data of interest.

Like what is the filing activity of each country at USPTO and EPO for example...and what sectors.

They rather operate on cruise-control of their own bias (or worse) on the matter....and even call expired-patent production+sales as "stealing".

They don't even understand why many drugs are called a generic in first place and what the immediate basic legal action and massive liability would be if a patent still applies in a country.

So how much would they know about the actual RnD that goes on in various countries?

IT, Pharma and Automotive are the 3 largest sectors that India needs to replicate in more sectors of its economy for a reason.

Pharma especially we need to harness its utility in this current corona crisis....we certainly cannot deal with it by pleading for debt write-offs like some others think they can conflate with.