Public CompanyCipla to export anti-Swine flu drugs to US
Pharma firm Cipla today said it is looking to export Antiflu, the drug used in the treatment of influenza AH1N1 (swine flu) virus, to US markets.
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"There is a shortage of this drug in the US. We have made an offer and willing to make this drug available in the US markets," Cipla Chairman and Managing Director Y K Hamied told reporters here.
Other countries also can approach us for the supply of Antiflu, he said while announcing the launch of the drug.
"We have launched Oseltamivir brand, called Antiflu, which is the only anti-flu medicine from India to be prequalified by the World Health Organisation (WHO)," Hamied said.
The company has the capacity to produce up to 2 million doses a month to meet the growing requirement of this medicine.
Currently Roche, the Swiss pharmaceuticals group which makes Tamiflu, a prescription drug, have treated around 42 million patients of H1N1 in about 80 countries worldwide.
Cipla"s Antiflu would be available both in capsules and liquid. Ten capsules will cost Rs 475 and 75 ml syrup will be similarly priced.
The launch of Antiflu comes in the wake of WHO declaring the flu as pandemic, which is anticipated to strike with the seasonal peak of winter, Hamied said.
Antiflu would be sold under Schedule X category in India, like Virenza, he said.
Unlike paracetamol prescribed to control fever, Antiflu and Virenza directly targets the virus and blocks its replication, Hamied said.
Influenza, a perceivably benign condition, actually kills about 2.5-5 lakh people every year worldwide according to WHO. These are generally the elderly or those with chronic underling conditions of the lung, heart, kedney etc, he said.
The fatality pattern this year with the 2009 H1N1 virus has been unusual with the virus attacking healthy adults and children and pregnant women, Cipla"s Medical Director J A Gogtay said.
Both inluenza and H1N1 are extremely contagious and Antiflu and Virenza are also recommended as preventive therapy for people with vulnerable health conditions such as asthma, COPD, HIV, heart disease or diabetes, Gogtay said.
However, medicines should be taken only with the advice of a medical practitioner, he said.