CSIR-IICT, NIIST, Suven Pharma join hands for COVID drug

Hyderabad: The CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, the CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram and pharma company Suven Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (SPL) has entered into an MoU for the process technology transfer and manufacturing of the anti- COVID drug Molnupiravir.

The anti-viral drug was initially developed for the treatment of influenza and has been repurposed to treat COVID-19. According to a study published in the journal 'Nature Microbiology,' the drug can completely suppress the COVID virus transmission within 24 hours, the CSIR-IICT said in a release here on Thursday. The drug could be a game-changer in the mitigation of SARS-CoV-2 virus, it said.

"The antiviral drug was initially developed for the treatment of influenza and is repurposed to completely suppress the COVID virus transmission within 24 hours according to the study recently published in the Journal Nature Microbiology. The drug could be a game-changer in mitigation of SARS-CoV-2 virus," the release said.

The synthetic process know-how for Molnupiravir was sourced from CSIR-NIIST and the process to scale it up was successfully carried out by CSIR-IICT, it said. The complete technology know-how will be transferred to SPL and the company, in turn, would manufacture and launch the drug in the market as an effective medication for COVID infected patients, it said.

As per the agreement, CSIR-IICT would also provide the process know-how for the manufacture of new anti-COVID drug 2 -DG to treat moderate and severe COVID infected patients to reduce their oxygen dependency, the release added.

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