New drug aiming to neutralise COVID infection seeks DCGI approval

An innovation-driven pharmaceutical company, Zydus Cadila announced that its biological therapy, ZRC-3308 can prove effective in treating mild COVID 19.  

ZRC-3308 (Covimab) is a cocktail of two anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies to combat mild COVID-19. According to the experts & research, cocktail of 2 mAbs-based products are better equipped to deal with variants than single mAb-based products, which have a tendency of losing their efficacy with rapidly generating variants.   

SARS-CoV-2 spike protein targetted, neutralising monoclonal antibody-based treatments have already received emergency use authorisation in mild COVID-19 patients in the US, Europe, and India as they significantly reduce viral load in mild patients; thus, reducing the rate of hospitalisation.   

Zydus is the only Indian company to have developed a neutralising monoclonal antibody-based cocktail solution for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The drug has been specifically designed to provide protection for a much longer period of time than the currently approved products. In its animal studies, ZRC-3308 reduced damage to the lungs in prophylactic as well as therapeutic settings. It has been found to be safe and well-tolerated in animal toxicology studies. The company is currently seeking permission to initiate phase 1/3 human clinical trials from Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).   

At 11.06 am on Thursday, the shares of Cadila Healthcare Ltd were trading flat at Rs 628.90 i.e. up by a mere 0.16 per cent on BSE. 

---