The firm, which has tasted success with its oral antiviral drug favipiravir, is now betting on the NONS to drive revenues from its Covid-19 portfolio
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals plans to test its upcoming nitric oxide nasal spray (NONS) that it has licensed from a Canadian Biotech firm as a preventive measure for Covid-19.
The firm, which has tasted success with its oral antiviral drug favipiravir, is now betting on the NONS to drive revenues from its Covid-19 portfolio.
In the first quarter, Covid-19 revenues were a tad less than 10 per cent of Glenmark’s turnover. Favipiravir alone sold for around Rs 350 crore, boosting its India business by 57 per cent year-on-year (YoY). What’s more? Fabiflu (Glenmark’s brand of favipiravir) enjoys margins of 35 per cent.
Glenmark has tied up with Canadian biotech firm SaNOtize to manufacture, market, and distribute its NONS for Covid-19 treatment in India and other Asian markets. Glenmark aims to launch the NONS under the brand Fabispray in the second half of the 2021-22 financial year.
The regulator has allowed Glenmark to start phase 3 trials of the product with conditions that anyone vaccinated with Covid-19 should be excluded from the disease.
Glenn Saldanha, managing director and chief executive of Glenmark, said a major clinical trial by SaNOtize was being conducted in Canada over 4000 people to see if this drug also works in the prevention of Covid-19. “If the trial shows that this works in prevention, then there are several uses of this. As such, nitric oxide, which is also produced by the body, is safe. With offices, schools, colleges, and local trains resuming, there would be wide and frequent use of the nasal spray,” Saldanha said.
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