|
 Both the pharmaceutical firms, however, will continue their separate
trials in mild COVID-19 patients, according to a statement https://bit.ly/3AqcXZb
by the Indian drug regulator's expert committee on Friday.
Merck had signed a voluntary licensing pact with Aurobindo Pharma
for the oral drug molnupiravir, earlier this year. Aurobindo Pharma
has been conducting a clinical trial of molnupiravir in 100 patients
with moderate COVID-19 since August this year. (https://bit.ly/2WYn61G)
Molnupiravir has shown no significant efficacy against moderate
COVID-19 cases, a drug regulator source told Reuters separately.
The drug regulator has not yet taken a call on the eight companies
that have applied for a molnupiravir licence, the source added.
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 A joint trial for the antiviral
drug is currently being conducted by five Indian
generic drugmakers only in mild COVID-19
patients in an outpatient setting.
In July, earlier this year, pharmaceutical
company Hetero had announced interim data from a
late-stage trial in mild COVID-19 patients and
submitted an application for emergency use
approval for the same.
(Reporting by Shivani Singh in Bengaluru and
Neha Arora in New Delhi; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
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