Glenmark under fire for over pricing, 'misguided' claims of Covid-19 drug

Sohini Das
Business-standard

NCP legislator Amol Kolhe's letter to Health Minister Harsh Vardhan triggers the DCGI to seek details from the Mumbai-based drugmaker
Glenmark has completed phase-III clinical studies, with favipiravir in mild-to-moderate Covid-19 patients in India.

Glenmark, which markets favipiravir under brand Fabiflu for treatment of mild-to-moderate Covid-19 patients, has come under the scanner of ‘the country’s drug regulator over pricing of the drug and claims of its therapeutic efficacy. The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has sent a letter to the Mumbai-based drugmaker seeking clarifications on pricing as well as claims of therapeutic efficacy. The move was triggered by a letter Nationalist Congress Party legislator Amol Kolhe wrote addressed to the health minister. The DCGI had given emergency use authorisation to favipiravir in the third week of June. It was an expedited approval following review by the subject expert committee (SEC) given the pandemic situation in the country. In his letter to Glenmark, V G Somani, India’s DCGI, who heads the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has said that it received a complaint from a member of the Parliament (MP) regarding the drug favipiravir. This letter, however, did not name the MP. Dr. Kolhe, a medical professional, had written a letter to Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on June 26, right after Fabiflu was launched. He had said that a patient has to take these tablets for 14-days (or around 122 tablets). At a price of Rs 103 per tablet, this would bring the total cost of treatment to Rs 12,500. He had urged “the government to should ensure affordability of the drug to the common people”. Later, however, Glenmark slashed the price of the drug to Rs 75 per tablet bringing down the cost of treatment to Rs 9,150. Kolhe said six of the 12 centers for clinical trials were government medical colleges from Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Delhi. He claimed that while common people contributed to the trial as subjects, the drug is definitely unaffordable to them.

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