Health
Pharmaceutical firm Cipla to launch Favipiravir drug to treat COVID patients: CSIR
Srinagar: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on Friday said that Mumbai-based pharmaceutical firm Cipla is ready to launch a drug named Favipiravir for the treatment of COVID patients.
According to an official statement released by the CSIR, the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT) has developed a process of using locally available chemicals to synthesize the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) and transferred the technology to Cipla.
Cost Effective Process Technology of Favipiravir Developed by CSIR Used by M/s Cipla Ltd., for Scale up & the Repurposed Drug Expected to be Launched Soon. @csiriict @Cipla_Global @shekhar_mande https://t.co/7WxVqUK4CI
— CSIR (@CSIR_IND) July 23, 2020
“Cost Effective Process Technology of Favipiravir Developed by CSIR Used by M/s Cipla Ltd., for Scale up & the Repurposed Drug Expected to be Launched Soon,” Council of Scientific and Industrial Research wrote on its official Twitter handle.
“Cipla has scaled up the process in their manufacturing facility and approached DCGI (Drug Controller General of India) for permission to launch the product in India. Given that DCGI has given restricted emergency use for Favipiravir in the country, Cipla is now all set to launch the product to help patients suffering from COVID-19,” the statement said.
Earlier on July, 21, CSIR chief Shekhar C Mande asserted that airborne transmission of COVID is indeed a “distinct possibility” and advised the people to wear masks even in enclosed spaces.
Chief’s remarks came days after the World Health Organization acknowledged the emerging evidence of airborne spread of the novel coronavirus.
In a blogpost on CSIR’s website, Mande referred to findings of various studies and wrote, “all these emerging evidences and arguments suggest that indeed airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is a distinct possibility.”
The CSIR chief advised people to avoid large crowded gatherings, keep enclosed places like workplaces well-ventilated and wear masks even in enclosed spaces, the report added.
“In open spaces, the small-sized droplets get dissipated in the air very quickly. Moreover, emerging evidence also suggests that the encapsulated virus in such droplets also gets inactivated by sunlight. However, the concentration of virion-encapsulated droplets is likely to be higher in places that are not well ventilated,” he said substantiating his claims on CSIR’s website.
Earlier this month, World Health Oganisation (WHO) had acknowledged the emerging evidence of airborne spread after an open letter by over 200 scientists outlined evidence that showed floating virus particles can infect people who breathe them in.
For months, the WHO had insisted that COVID is transmitted via droplets emitted when people cough or sneeze. Droplets that do not linger in the air, but fall onto surfaces – that’s why handwashing has been identified as a key prevention measure.
According to the latest data released by Johns Hopkins University, COVID has infected over 15.4 million (15,446,800) people worldwide and killed as many as 632,178, people so far. At least 8.7 million patients have recovered globally.
Nearly half of the total number of global cases have emerged from the three worst-hit countries — the US, Brazil and India.
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