India’s Cipla Launching COVID-19 Treatment Drug Ciplenza in August

India’s pharmaceutical company Cipla on Friday announced it has received regulatory approval from the drug controller general of India (DCGI) for launching Favipiravir in the country to be sold under the brand name Ciplenza for restricted emergency use for the treatment of coronavirus patients.

“The accelerated approval for manufacturing and marketing of the drug is aimed at meeting the urgent and unmet medical need for COVID-19 treatment options in the country through restricted emergency use,” the company in a statement said.

The company said it will commercially launch Ciplenza in the first week of August and each tablet has been priced less than a dollar.

Ciplenza has been jointly developed by Cipla and CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology. India on Friday reported the number of COVID-19 cases in the country has reached 1,287,945 including 30,601 deaths. Globally India is the third worst COVID-19 -hit country