FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Locally made Favipiravir tablets used for Covid treatment get FDA approval

Locally made Favipiravir tablets used for Covid treatment get FDA approval

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved for use in Thailand Favipiravir tablets -- administered to Covid-19 patients -- researched, developed and manufactured by the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO).

“The GPO will start manufacturing Favipiravir tablets in August and will start delivering to hospitals immediately,” Dr Nanthakan Suwanpidokkul, a drug specialist at GPO, said on Thursday.

“In the early phase, we can produce at least 2 million tablets of 200mg per month at the GPO’s factory in Bangkok, but in the following months we will expand the manufacturing to our Pathum Thani factory to further increase the output.”

Nanthakan added that the domestically produced Favipiravir tablets were of international standard and were effective in treating Covid-19 patients.

“The tablets that we produced passed the bioequivalence study comparable with the originally imported tablets. However, they are significantly cheaper than the imported drug and should help the country save more money,” she said.

“Currently Thailand is using 300,000 tablets of imported Favipiravir per day, or 9 million tablets per month, as new patients have been increasing every day,” she said.

“The GPO will continue to import Favipiravir tablets from overseas and also them locally to make sure that we have adequate supply in case new infections surge even further.”

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