In a voluntary initiative, pharma major Cipla has come forward to manufacture anti-viral drugs, which could be effective for Covid-19, through a partnership with CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT). CSIR-IICT has decided to work on three promising compounds namely Remidesivir, Favipiravir and Baloxavir. It would take about six to 10 weeks to make two of the compounds of 100 gms each at the lab scale.
“Scientists throughout the world are working towards developing new drugs for containment of Covid-19. The research on anti-viral drugs has been going throughout the world since long. Many companies have developed molecules having anti-viral properties. But due to lack of demand, these molecules were not widely marketed,’’ Dr SChandrasekhar, director, CSIR-IICT, told FE.