HomeNewsBusinessDr Reddy's to launch Molflu at Rs 35 per capsule for COVID treatment

Dr Reddy's to launch Molflu at Rs 35 per capsule for COVID treatment

With 10 capsules per strip, the total course of 40 capsules over 5 days would cost Rs 1,400, making it among the most affordable treatment options available to patients.

January 04, 2022 / 18:34 IST
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Dr Reddy's Laboratories | The company has received emergency-use authorisation from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to manufacture and market the oral anti-viral drug Molnupiravir capsules for the treatment of adult patients with COVID-19.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories | The company has received emergency-use authorisation from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to manufacture and market the oral anti-viral drug Molnupiravir capsules for the treatment of adult patients with COVID-19.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories on Tuesday said it will launch Molflu (Molnupiravir) at Rs 35 per capsule to treat COVID-19 in the country. Molflu will be priced at Rs 35 per capsule, a spokesperson of the Hyderabad-based drug maker said in a statement.

With 10 capsules per strip, the total course of 40 capsules over 5 days would cost Rs 1,400, making it among the most affordable treatment options available to patients, it added. "Molflu is expected to be available from early next week in pharmacies throughout the country with particular focus on states with high caseload of COVID-19," the spokesperson noted.

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ALSO READ: Dr Reddy’s, Strides Pharma shares rally on DCGI approval for COVID-19 drug

Last year, Dr Reddy's entered into a non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreement with Merck Sharpe Dohme (MSD) to manufacture and supply Molnupiravir to India and over 100 low and middle-income countries (LMICs). In a first-of-its-kind collaboration in the Indian pharmaceutical industry, a Dr Reddy's-led consortium of pharma companies collaborated to jointly sponsor, supervise and monitor the Phase III clinical trial of Molnupiravir in India, and presented its findings to the Subject Expert Committee.

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A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

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There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

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Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.
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