The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has been approved by Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) for its two clinical trial drugs - 'favipiravir' and 'phytopharmaceutical' - in its bid to combat coronavirus. Favipiravir is a drug commonly used to treat influenza with a very broad spectrum of RNA polymerase in Japan, China and some other countries.
Globally, several drugs are being tried to combat coronavirus. Researchers and scientists have come up with new theories about what might be the right way to go about treating coronavirus.
CSIR General Director Shekhar Mande said they will begin the clinical trial within one week.
The CSIR is exploring a native herb as a biological or phytopharmaceutical medicine which is already being tested as a dengue medicine for its effectiveness in fighting COVID-19. CSIR General Director Shekhar Mande said they would begin the clinical trial within one week.
WHAT IS FAVIPIRAVIR AND PHYTOPHAMACEUTICAL?
Favipiravir is a chemical also known as T-705, which is used to treat patients that contain the RNA virus, i.e., it is an antiviral drug. The drug is an antiviral medication used to treat influenza in Japan.
Favipiravir is derived from Pyrazinamide that is frequently used against yellow fever, West Nile virus, and Arenavirus or Bunyavirus likes. This antiviral has also been used for people infected with Ebola.
The medicine was approved for use in 2019 coronavirus disease clinical trials in China. In March, Italy approved the drug against COVID-19 for experimental use and began conducting trials in three regions most affected by the disease.
Nevertheless, the Italian Pharmaceutical Agency has reminded the public that the existing evidence to support this drug is scant and preliminary. Earlier this month, a trial begins in London, UK.
Phytopharmaceutical is essentially a plant-extracted herbal medicine.
It is a cocktail of various compounds but has a plant biological origin. In the United States, it is referred to as botanical by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but in India, the DCGI calls it phytopharmaceutical.
OTHER VACCINE TRIAL
Last month, Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), founded by Cyrus Poonawalla in 1966, made headlines worldwide after launching three critical initiatives to defeat the COVID-19 virus-one with Oxford University in the UK, one with Codagenix, a US-based biotech company, and its own recombinant BCG vaccine.
Serum is among seven supporters of the Oxford Vaccine Group to develop the vaccine that is now in the phase of human trials. The trials started on April 23 and Poonawalla is still kept confident that it will be pulled off in record time by the core vaccine team in the UK.
The SII will start the manufacture of vaccine by September-October in anticipation of clinical trials that will follow in the UK.
