13 drugmakers to make Merck’s Covid-19 pill in India

India has approved Merck’s Covid-19 pill and granted emergency approvals to 13 drugmakers including Sun Pharma, Cipla and Dr. Reddy’s to make the antiviral drug, as it gears up to fight a fresh wave of the pandemic.

Tuesday’s news came amid a spike in Omicron infections in India and a week after the United States gave its blessing for Molnupiravir to be used to treat high-risk adult patients suffering from Covid-19. A clinical trial showed the pill reduced hospitalisations and deaths by around 30 per cent.

The other companies which got the approval from the Drug Controller General of India include Natco Pharma, MSN Laboratories, Hetero Drugs, Optimus Pharma, Aurobindo Pharma, Mylan, Strides Pharma Science, Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Torrent Pharma and BDR Pharmaceuticals.

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“The approval to launch molnupiravir is an important development not only as a treatment option, but also for the collaborative manner in which Indian pharma companies came together,” Dr. Reddy’s Co-Chairman and Managing Director G.V. Prasad said in a statement.

The drug, which the US-based Merck developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, has also been approved by Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

“Getting an approval is a significant benchmark, we will have (an) authorised drug for Covid-19 treatment. But in terms of sales trajectory, we will have to see how the number of cases are increasing. If the wave is as serious as the previous one, we see this turning into a Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 crore molecule,” said Adbulkader Puranwala, Vice-President at Elara Capital.

Others such as Amit Khurana, Head of Equities and Research at Dolat Capital, also see good prospects for the drug but said it was hard to estimate the exact size of its potential market due to lack of clarity on raw material costs and other factors.“Since Covid is becoming a sort of chronic disease, there is export potential for this drug. For companies that already have Covid drugs, this would add to the portfolio,” Khurana said.

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