Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited has introduced Pfizer's Paxlovid, the first US FDA approved oral therapy for Covid-19 treatment, in Bangladesh.
Beximco Pharma, the fast-growing manufacturer of generic pharmaceutical products and active pharmaceutical ingredients, on Thursday made the announcement, according a statement of Beximco Pharmaceuticals.
The world’s first generic version of Pfizer’s Covid-19 treatment Paxlovid was approved by the US FDA on 22 December 2021.
Availability of generic nirmatrelvir and ritonavir will provide affordable treatment option and increase accessibility as new variants emerge, the company in a statement said.
Directorate General of Drug Administration, Bangladesh, on Thursday granted EUA for the oral antiviral drug to treat mild-to-moderate Covid-19 in adults and children of 12 years and above.
This novel antiviral pill showed almost 90 per cent efficacy in preventing hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients, and recent data from Pfizer suggests the drug retains its effectiveness against the fast-spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus, it claimed.
Beximco Pharma will market this product under the brand name Bexovid, initially in Bangladesh.
Nirmatrelvir inhibits a SARS-CoV-2 enzyme to stop the virus from replicating, and ritonavir slows down nirmatrelvir’s breakdown to help it remain in the body for a longer period at higher concentrations, the statement said.
The treatment is given as two tablets of nirmatrelvir and one tablet of ritonavir together twice a day for five days. Bexovid is available by prescription only and should be initiated as soon as possible after the diagnosis of Covid-19 and within five days of symptom onset, it read.
