(Daily News Scan - DNS English) What Drugs India is Using Against COVID-19
Every now and then a new drug or a therapy is being tried out to check if it helps in coping and curing Covid-19. India has been trying out quite a few of them to tackle this severe problem which has caused trouble to such a huge mass of people. Out of all the drugs and methods used by India to tackle this issue, we have talked about a few of them in detail previously.
In today’s DNS we will talk about all the drugs briefly that India is using to tackle Covid-19.
The first one is Remdesivir. This is an antiviral drug that was developed to treat Ebola. It is one of the possible Covid-19 treatments being investigated in the WHO’s Solidarity Trial. Very recently on June 1, The Drug Controller General of India approved a five day regime of Remdesivir. Currently it is prescribe by the doctors to severely ill patients. This drug is being manufactured by the Gilead sciences and it has also signed licensing deal with Cipla, Ferozsons Labs, Hetero Labs, Jubilant Life sciences and Mylan to expand supply in India and Pakistan. The costing of per vial of remdesivir is around 10,000 -20,000.
The next drug in the list is Favipiravir. An antiviral given to inhibit viral replication. It is mostly used as an anti-influenza drug. In India it is manufactured by Glenmark Pharmaceutical and Strides Pharma. The Covid-19 patients who are moderately symptomatic to severely ill are being given this medicine. But the cess to this not easy. Trials have been going for this medicine. For this 10 hospitals have been shortlisted for a phase III trial with mild and moderately ill Covid-19 patients. Another trial by Glenmark is also in the line. It will test favipiravir with the drug umifenovir on 158 Covid patients.
The third in the list is Tocilizumab. It is an immunosuppressant. It is commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Tocilizumab is manufactured by Roche Pharma, and marketed by Cipla. In India it is sold under the brand name Actemra.
This is an expensive drug a single dose of this costs around 40-60 thousand. However the government hospitals are providing it for free. It has been used in patients of Mumbai who were severely ill with Covid-19 as a preventive measure against ventilator requirement. It was tried on a 52 year old patient. But his health did not improve as he had reached an advanced stage. In other patients a recovery is being observed although it is too early to provide data. This drug is mostly given to patients who are breathless, to the ones with pneumonia and those at risk of cytokine storm (a severe immune reaction). A controlled of this drug has also begun in different cities in INDIA.
The next in the list is Itolizumab, a drug that is used commonly for skin disorder psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and autoimmune disorders. It was launched in India by Biocon in the year 2013. The trails of this medicine is done on moderately to severely ill Covid patients in Mumbai and Delhi. The trial will take some time and the results of the same will be available in July.
One of the most talked about drug is Hydroxychloroquine. An antimalarial drug. India is the largest producer of this drug. Doctors use HCQ use in Covid patients with symptoms as mild as headache, fever, body pain, and even in critically ill patients. ICMR guidelines recommend low doses for nine days. Some patients had fast recovery due to this medicine, while some many reports have been negative and also there are some side effects to this. So there are chances to completely stop the use of HCQ.
Another drug in this list is Doxycycline + ivermectin.
Doxycycline is an antibiotic used to fight infection in the urinary tract, eye,
or respiratory tract. While, Ivermectin is an anti-parasite drug for treatment
of scabies, head lice, and filariasis. The combination of these two is used to
treat patients of Covid-19 that have acute symptoms. There is very little
information of these two drugs against covid and they are still in the
experimental stage.
The other combination of drugs in the list is of Ritonavir + Lopinavir. These
antivirals are used for treating HIV patients. Some studies suggest they reduce
mortality risk in Covid-19 patients; others have found no major improvement.
Over a dozen manufacturers supply ritonavir and Lopinavir in India. Doctors
sometimes use the combination for severely ill patients.
One of the last treatments used on Covid-19 patients is the Plasma therapy. This is also one of the most talked about things during Coronavirus outbreak. This is meant for critical patients with low oxygen saturation levels, or those suffering a cytokine storm. Patients who have recovered from severe Covid-19 donate their plasma, which is then injected into other critical patients to boost their immunity. A protocol approved by ICMR is used to select which patient is best suited for plasma therapy. Preference is given to those at risk of cytokine storm, extreme breathlessness with severe pneumonia.
