CSIR Identifies 25 Drugs For Repurposing Against Covid-19, Favipiravir Emerges As Most Promising One

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has identified the top 25 drugs/drug candidates for repurposing them for the treatment of Covid-19 patients in India.

The repurposed drugs can be quickly deployed for treatment as opposed to new drugs which need almost a decade of development.

“CSIR has identified the top 25 drugs/drug candidates for repurposing. Among these top 25 drugs, Favipiravir a broad-spectrum inhibitor of viral RNA polymerase has emerged as of one of the most promising drugs,” the Ministry of Science and Technology said in a release.

CSIR Identifies Top Drug Candidates for Repurposing

Favipiravir was developed by Fujifilm Toyama Chemical Ltd, and is an approved treatment for common influenza and is marketed in Russia, China and Japan, it added.

“CSIR-IICT, based in Hyderabad has developed a convenient and cost-effective synthetic process for Favipiravir.  As a collaborative effort with industry, CSIR-IICT transferred the entire process and significant quantities of pharma grade API of Favipiravir to Cipla a leading pharmaceutical company,” the release said.

Cipla will be conducting the investigations prior to launching on this drug against Covid-19 in India. For this purpose, the company has approached the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for approval to launch Favipiravir in India.

Favipiravir is a generic drug and already being used for the treatment of influenza and also is in clinical trials for Covid-19 in many countries such as in China, Japan and Italy.

“Under the auspices of ICMR, Cipla will conduct a suitable limited trial prior to marketing the product  as Ciplenza,” the release added.