FabiFlu much more affordable than other options: Glenmark tells DCGI

Responding to DCGI’s claims that cost proposed by Glenmark for anti-viral FabiFlu is not in the interest of the poor, the Mumbai-based pharmaceutical company has said that compared to other therapies approved for emergency use in COVID-19, FabiFlu is “much more economical and an effective treatment option”.

In a letter to Glenmark, Dr VG Somani had stated that Drugs Controller General of India office received a representation from a Member of Parliament stating that the total cost of treatment with FabiFlu (Favipiravir) will be around Rs 12,500 and that the “cost proposed by Glenmark is definitely not in the interest of the poor, lower middle class and middle-class people of India.”

“Favipiravir, when launched, was at the lowest market cost (Rs 103/tab) as compared to the cost of Favipiravir in other countries where it was approved,” the company said in a letter to Somani.

The letter also comprised a table listing price of Favipiravir (200mg) in other countries — Russia (Rs 600),  Japan (Rs 378), Bangladesh (Rs 350), China (Rs 215).”With a view to make the product even more accessible to a larger section of the population, Glenmark reduced price of FabiFlu to Rs 75 per tablet from Rs 103,” the company stated.

The DCGI had also alleged that Glenmark made “false claims” about the use of anti-viral FabiFlu on COVID-19 patients with comorbidities.

“It has been mentioned in the representation that Glenmark has also claimed that this drug is effective in co-morbid conditions like hypertension, diabetics, whereas in reality, as per protocol summary, this trial was not designed to assess the FabiFlu in comorbid condition,” the letter dated July 17 read.

“In view of this, you are requested to provide your clarification on the above points for taking further necessary action in the matter,” Somani said in the letter.

Responding to allegations of misleading claim, Glenmark said that the reference to co-morbidity was based on data from Japanese registry, which is the largest collection of real-world evidence on the clinical use of Favipiravir in COVID-19.

“In Feb 2020, Favipiravir was used on adult patients of all age groups, including with co-morbidities. The report published by Japanese Infectious Disease Society[2] had 2,158 patients, which included 49 percent of the patients with co-morbidities (including diabetes, hypertension) and 52% aged above 60 years,” it said.

“The results showed clinical improvement in 84.5 percent and 87.8 percent patients with Favipiravir in moderate and mild COVID-19  patients respectively.  Thus, the 88 percent clinical improvement mentioned is derived from the published Japanese clinical use,” Glenmark stated. – Moneycontrol