Glenmark Pharma share price gained 9 percent intraday on April 30 after the company received approval from the Indian health regulator to conduct clinical trials for Favipiravir antiviral tablets for COVID-19.
The stock, which has rallied 70 percent during the month, was trading at Rs 342.55, up Rs 12.85, or 3.90 percent, on the BSE at 1201 hours.
Glenmark is the first pharmaceutical company in India to be given approval by the regulator to start the trial on COVID-19 patients in the country.
The company had received approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to conduct clinical trials on Favipiravir antiviral tablets on COVID-19 patients, Glenmark said in BSE filing.
The product is a generic version of Avigan of Fujifilm Toyama Chemical, Japan, a subsidiary of Fujifilm Corporation.
Favipiravir has demonstrated activity against influenza viruses and has been approved in Japan for the treatment of novel influenza virus infections, the Mumbai-based company said.
Having internally developed the API and the formulations for the product, Glenmark filed the product for clinical trials with the DCGI and got the go-ahead for conducting the trial on mild to moderate patients, it said.
"After having successfully developed the API and the formulations through its in-house R&D team, Glenmark is all geared to immediately begin clinical trials on Favipiravir on COVID-19 patients in India. The clinical trial will let us know the efficacy of this molecule on COVID-19 patients," said Sushrut Kulkarni, Executive Vice President – Global R&D.
