Pharma major Lupin Ltd announced the launch of Favipiravir in India under the brand name Covihalt for treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19, on Wednesday. 

Favipiravir has received authorisation from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use. Favipiravir was originally developed by Japan's Fujifilm Holdings Corp under the brand name Avigan for treating influenza.

Its Covihalt dosage strength has been developed keeping in the convenience of administration. It is available as 200 mg tablets in the form of a strip of 10 tablets and priced at Rs 49 per tablet.

"COVID-19 is a global pandemic and in India we are seeing a surge in the number of cases on a daily basis." said Rajeev Sibal, President of India region formulations at Lupin Ltd.

"In these tough times, it is our duty to support the nation in fighting this pandemic and ensuring affordable drugs are made available for impacted patients," he said adding that Covihalt is a vital step in this direction.

"We believe that we can leverage our expertise in managing widespread community diseases like TB to proactively reach patients across India and ensure access to Covihalt through our strong distribution network and field force" he further added.

A day earlier, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries launched Favipiravir (200 mg) at a price of Rs 35 per tablet. The stocks of FluGuard will be available in the market from this week, Sun Pharma said in a regulatory filing.