‘Remdesiver, Favipiravir antiviral drugs no game changers in Covid-19 fight’
NEW DELHI: With pharmaceutical companies launching generic versions of Remdesivir and Favipiravir for COVID19 treatment, medical experts on Monday said it was a "positive development" in the fight against the pandemic, but cautioned against regarding the antiviral drugs as "game changers".
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has launched the antiviral drug Favipiravir, under the brand name Fabiflu, for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID19 cases, while Cipla and Hetero have received approvals from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to launch Remdesivir under the brand names Cipremi and Covifor respectively. Cipla Ltd on Sunday announced the launch of Cipremi.
Dr Sanjay Rai, Professor at the Centre for Community Medicine, AIIMS Delhi, said till date no effective treatment or vaccine to combat coronavirus has been found.
"Till date we don't have evidence that a particular drug is effective, so we cannot call any drug game changer till then. With their launch, it will only be clear in the future how effective they will be. Whether they can play a supportive role in COVID-19 treatment is also not yet known," he said. Dr Vikas Maurya, Director, Department of Pulmonology and Sleep Disorders, Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, said drugs like Remdesivir and Favipiravir were "no game changers" as they were used for other diseases and have now been found useful in some way in treating COVID19 patients.
"It is not as if all those taking these drugs will recover," he said. It has been found that they help reduce viral load but are not game changers, Maurya said.
"But yes, it is a positive development as it is better to have something in hand than nothing. There is also a psychological impact that something is being given which could have some benefit," he said.
Dr Rommel Tickoo, Associate Director, Internal Medicine, Max Healthcare, also echoed Maurya's views. Whatever studies that have been done on these drugs are very limited so they cannot be called "game changers", but their launch is a positive development as it is better to have something than nothing, he said.
"On both the drugs we have limited data, whatever evidence we have is mostly anecdotal. There is no specific treatment that we have and we cannot wait for all the trials to be over as many lives will be lost. So that is why emergency restricted use is being approved," he said.
"It is difficult for us to categorically state the efficacy of the drugs, they do have the potential, but we need more data," he said.
Noted city-based lung surgeon Dr Arvind Kumar said he does not believe that any of these antiviral drugs like Remdisiver or Favipiravir will be game changers.
"If at all 'game changer' can be used, it is for dexamethasone which has shown a significant reduction in mortality and is available cheaply," said Kumar, who works at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here.