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Emcure Pharmaceuticals to launch anti-Covid pill in week

The company plans to launch Molnupiravir under the brand name 'Lizuvira' in the Indian market.

December 31, 2021 / 19:09 IST
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Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd (EPL) on Friday said it will launch its generic version of anti-COVID-19 pill Molnupiravir in a week in India. The company plans to launch Molnupiravir under the brand name 'Lizuvira' in the Indian market, EPL said in a statement.

"As the need for such a drug is imminent in the face of emerging challenges in COVID-19 treatment, EPL will endeavour to deliver Lizuvira (Molnupiravir) in a week's time. A toll-free helpline will be dedicated to help the doctors and patients access the product," it added. The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) earlier this week approved Molnupiravir for restricted use in emergency situation (EUA) in India.

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EPL, earlier this year, entered into a licensing agreement with Merck Sharpe Dohme (MSD) to manufacture and supply Molnupiravir to India and over 100 low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Other homegrown pharma majors such as Strides Pharma, Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharma, Cipla, Hetero, Torrent, Optimus and Brinton Pharma have already announced plans to roll out their generic versions of the drug shortly.

COVID-19 Vaccine
Frequently Asked Questions

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How does a vaccine work?

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.

How many types of vaccines are there?

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.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

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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first published: Dec 31, 2021 07:09 pm

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