Five Indian generic drug makers, including Cipla and Laboratory of Dr.
Reddy, said on Tuesday they would jointly conduct clinical trials of Merck & Co’s anti-virus drugs to treat Covid-19 light in India which were not treated in India.
Between March and April, each of these companies, which also includes the Sun Pharmaceutical Industry, Torrent Medicines and Pharmaceutical Private Emissions, partnered with Merck to expand the production of drugs, Molnupiravir.
This partnership provides a company license to supply Molnupiravir to India and more than 100 low and medium income countries after emergency approval or authorization by local supervisory bodies, Merck said at the end of April.
On Tuesday, Indian companies said they would jointly sponsor, supervise, and monitor the clinical trial in the country, which is expected to take place between June and September this year at 1,200 patients.
They will then independently approach regulatory authorities for approval to produce and supply drugs in India.
Molnupiravir is a developing Merck antivirus therapy with Ridgeback biotherapeutics for the treatment of Covid-19 patients who are not treated at the hospital.
The Coronavirus case in India has declined from a crushing peak in April and May.
However, health experts say that the country must be prepared for the third wave in October.