The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Friday approved restricted emergency use for the anti-coronavirus drug Virafin, developed by pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila, for treating moderate COVID-19 infection in adults. A single-dose subcutaneous regimen of the drug – Pegylated Interferon alpha-2b (PegIFN) – will make treatment much more convinient for patients. 

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“When administered early on during COVID, Virafin will help patients recover faster and avoid much of the complications. Virafin will be available on the prescription of medical specialist for use in hospital/institutional setup,” the company said in a statement. 

“In the multicentric trial conducted in 20-25 centers across India, Virafin had shown lesser need for supplemental oxygen, clearly indicating that it was able to control respiratory distress and failure which has been one of the major challenges in treating COVID-19. The drug has also shown efficacy against other viral infections.”

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Dr. Sharvil Patel, Managing Director of Cadila Healthcare, said “The fact that we are able to offer a therapy which significantly reduces viral load when given early on can help in better disease management. It comes at a much-needed time for patients and we will continue to provide them access to critical therapies in this battle against COVID-19”. 

The company said that the drug’s phase III trial data showed a higher better clinical improvement in patients suffering from the infection, adding that patients returned with a RT-PCR negative test within seven days. Also patients who were administered the drug required fewer hours of supplemental oxygen. 

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This comes at a time when India is struggling to keep a rampant second wave of COVID-19 in check and is looking to ramp up domestic production of vaccines as well as rope in foreign jabs. On Friday, the country reported its record single-day spike of 332,730 new cases and 2,263 deaths.