DCGI grants Sun Pharma approval to conduct Nafamostat clinical trials

Friday brought with it the news that drug maker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has been granted approval by Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to initiate a clinical trial of Nafamostat Mesilate for treating COVID-19 patients.

Via a press release to BSE, the company has informed that a demonstration by scientists has shown that the drug in question, at very low concentrations, suppresses a protein (TMPRSS2) that Coronavirus uses to enter the lung cells of humans. Consistent with findings from Japan and German labs, the most potent drug found was Nafamostat that could inhibit virus entry at very low concentrations. Japan has authorized the drug for the improvement of acute symptoms of pancreatitis and treatment of Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC).

Dilip Shanghvi, Managing Director of Sun Pharma, while speaking on this news, stated that Nafamostat has shown promising data against SARS-CoV-2 virus in vitro studies conducted by three independent groups of scientists in Europe, Japan and South Korea and the company believes that it holds promise in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Various researchers and drug makers are moving forward at extraordinary speeds in an attempt to find a treatment for the virus, fully aware of how big the potential profit stakes are for the industry.

Sun Pharma Laboratories Limited (SPLL) offers pharmaceutical services worldwide and extends generic, speciality, over-the-counter (OTC) products, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), antiretrovirals (ARVs) and intermediates.

The stock closed at Rs 475.45, up by 3.53 per cent or Rs 16.20 per share on Friday. The 52-week high is recorded at Rs 504.85 and the 52-week low is Rs 315.20 on BSE.