In recent developments, two weeks after the BMC placed a bulk order for 27 lakh Favipiravir tablets, the oral drug to treat the coronavirus, at ₹78 per tablet, state government’s Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) is receiving the medicine for ₹58 per unit.
According to a report by Mumbai Mirror, BMC had decided to buy Favipiravir earlier this month. However, this decision was criticized by opposition parties as there was only one pharmaceutical company marketing the drug. They had pointed out that more pharmaceutical companies would soon get approval from the Centre to license and market the drug which would lead to a reduction in prices. Glenmark, which manufactures Favipiravir tablets have reduced the prices, however, BMC is losing money each day it buys tablets at a higher price.
Glenmark to counter the coronavirus had introduced the antiviral drug Favipiravir under the brand name FabiFlu earlier. Patients suffering from mild to moderate symptoms of the coronavirus can use this drug to get themselves treated. The tablet is being produced by the company in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh. However, the pharma major has slashed the price by 27 per cent in order to make the drug more accessible to the patients infected with COVID-19 across the nation.
According to sources, the price reduction has been made possible through benefits that were gained from higher yields, as both the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) and formulations are made at Glenmark’s facilities in India, the benefits of which are being passed on to patients in the country. Furthermore, in order to monitor the efficiency and safety of the drug, Glenmark had also started a post-marketing surveillance study on 1,000 patients. The study is meant to be an open-label, multicenter and a single-arm study.
Meanwhile, On Monday, July 20, Maharashtra recorded 8,240 fresh cases of the novel coronavirus, propelling the state's COVID-19 tally to 3,18,695. Currently, there are 1,31,334 active cases in the state.
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