The Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) here, the National Institute of Interdisciplinary Science & Technology (NIIST), Thiruvanantapuram and Suven Pharmaceuticals Ltd., (SPL) here, have entered into a Memorandum of Understandng (MoU) for the process technology transfer and manufacturing of the anti-COVID drug Molnupiravir, on Thursday.
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, said an official release from the IICT.
The synthetic process knowhow for Molnupiravir was sourced from NIIST, a Council for Scientific and Industrial Research lab, and the scale-up process was successfully carried out by IICT. The complete technology knowhow will now be transferred and the Suven Pharmaceuticals in turn will manufacture and launch it in the market as an effective medication for COVID-infected patients.
IICT, as per the agreement, would also provide the process knowhow for the manufacture of new anti-COVID drug 2-Deoxy-D-Glucose or 2-DG to treat moderately and severely COVID-infected patients to reduce their oxygen dependency. The institute has already forged an agreement with another city-based Lee Pharma for the synthesis of 2-DG developed by DRDO and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.
