Glenmark found a drug to treat COVID 19

Fabiflu

Glenmark recently  found an antiviral drug treatment against coronavirus patients with mild and moderate symptoms.

The drug had approved under the emergency category by the Drug Control General of India (DCGI).

Glenmark pharmaceuticals head on Friday received manufacturing and marketing approval from India's drug regulator and FAVIPIRAVIR is the first approved Drug in India.

The company has got approval under the emergency category. Each tablet of 200 mg was cost of 103 rupees and a strip containing 34 tablets is a cost of 3500 rupees. It will be made available at chemist shop and sold under the prescription.

70 to 80 % covid-19 patients are from the mild and medium category for which the drug has been approved. A patient of this type has not be admitted at hospitals and can  stay at home.

Once  administered  the drug will help in bringing down the viral load on the patient, the Glenmarks executives said.

And the drug is only be restricted use , which means it can be consumed under doctor's prescription, guidance and supervision. People without prescription can't buy it 

Mechanism of action

The mechanism of action of favipiravir is primarily prevent entry and exit of the virus from cells.The active favipiravir selectively inhibits RNA polymerase and prevents replication of the viral genome.There are several hypotheses as to how favipiravir-interacts with RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp).Some studies have shown that when favipiravir-RTP is incorporated into a nascent RNA strand, it prevents RNA strand elongation and viral proliferation. Studies have also found that the presence of purine analogs can reduce favipiravir’s antiviral activity, suggesting competition between favipiravir-RTP and purine nucleosides for RdRp binding.