Glenmark to study potential COVID-19 antiviral drug combination

Integrated global pharmaceutical company, Glenmark announced that it is planning to start a new open-label study to test the combined efficacy of two anti-viral drugs namely, Favipiravir and Umifenovir as a potential COVID-19 treatment strategy. The said drugs have a different mechanism of action and their combination may demonstrate an improved treatment efficacy by effectively tackling high viral loads in patients during the early stage of the disease, the company stated in a filing to BSE.

The company has received an approval from Indian regulator to initiate the study. The combination study which will be called the ‘Faith trial’ will enrol 158 hospitalised patients of moderate COVID-19 in India.

Drugmakers across the world have been racing to develop a treatment or vaccine for the fast-spreading virus, which has infected 5.5 million people globally, killing more than 3,45,000, according to Reuters tally. In India, the death toll from COVID-19 has reached 4,167 on Tuesday, thereby, including it in the list of ten most-affected nations across the globe.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd (GPL) is a global research-led pharmaceutical company with a presence across generics, speciality and OTC business with operations in over 50 countries. It ranked among the top 80 pharma and biotech companies of the world in terms of revenue.

At 2 pm on Tuesday, the stock was trading at Rs 348.60, down by 0.91 per cent or Rs 3.25 per share. The 52-week high is recorded at Rs 575 and the 52-week low is Rs 168 on BSE.