The Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) has given green signal to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to conduct clinical trial on drugs - 'favipiravir' and 'phytopharmaceutical' - to combat coronavirus.
Favipiravir is a drug which is commonly used in Japan, China and some other countries, to treat influenza that has a very broad spectrum of RNA polymerase.
The CSIR is also exploring Cocculus Hirsutus, a native herb used by tribes in the country, as a biological medicine or phytopharmaceutical, which is already being tested as medicine for dengue for its efficacy to combat COVID-19.
CSIR Director General Shekhar Mande said that they will start the clinical trial within a week.
In May 2016, Sun Pharma and International Centre for Genetic engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Delhi, had signed an exclusive agreement to develop the novel botanical drug for treatment against dengue.
According to CSIR scientists, the antiviral properties of the medicine have been found to be effective against vector-borne dengue disease as part of the initial stages of human trials.
"We are already testing the efficacy of this medicine against dengue and it is in the advanced stage in phase-II human trials. The mechanisms of treatment are similar," Mande said.
Phytopharmaceutical is essentially a herbal medicine extracted from plants. It is a cocktail of different compounds but has a biological origin from a plant. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) terms it botanical, however, in India the DCGI calls it phytopharmaceutical.
Talking about Favipiravir, he said it is a safe drug and its trial is expected to be completed in about one and a half month. "If the tests are successful with the expected results, then this drug will be available soon at affordable prices. A big reason for this is that Favipiravir is an old medicine the patent of which has now expired," he said.